Fatal work injuries totaled 20 in 2018 for the Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Sheila Watkins, the Bureau’s regional commissioner, noted that the number of work-related fatalities in the Richmond area increased by two from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the area have ranged from a high of 30 in 2005 to a low of 13 in 2013. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a total of 5,250 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2018, up from the 5,147 fatal injuries in 2017, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program.

Type of incident

In the Richmond area, transportation incidents accounted for eight workplace fatalities, and violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in six fatal work injuries. These two major categories accounted for 70 percent of all workplace fatalities in the Richmond area. (See table 1.) The number of worker deaths due to transportation incidents increased by two from the previous year, while the number of worker fatalities from violence and other injuries by persons or animals decreased by two.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2018, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the second-most common fatal event (16 percent), followed by falls, slips, and trips (15 percent) and contact with objects and equipment (15 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry sector had the largest number of fatalities in the Richmond area with five. (See table 2.) Contact with objects and equipment accounted for two of these fatalities.

The private agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry had four workplace fatalities, followed by the private transportation and warehousing sector with three. Workplace fatalities in the transportation and warehousing industry decreased by four from the previous year.

Occupation

Management occupations and construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities, each with four. (See table 3.) All of the fatalities within the management occupation group were farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers. Two of the fatalities within the construction and extraction occupations were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers. Transportation and material moving occupations had the next highest number of fatalities with three, all were heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.

Contracted Workers

A contractor is defined as a worker employed by one firm but working at the behest of another firm that exercises overall responsibility for the operations at the site of the fatal injury. In 2018, the Richmond area had two fatally-injured workers identified as fitting the contractor criteria, one due to a transportation incident and one from exposure to harmful substances or environments.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 90 percent of the work-related fatalities in the Richmond area, compared to  the 92-percent national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 39 percent of the fatalities for men in the Richmond area.
• White, non-Hispanic workers accounted for 85 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 65 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 50 percent of the area’s work-related fatalities in 2018, compared to 58 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally. Workers 55-64 years old accounted for 40 percent of the Richmond’s area workplace fatalities; nationally, this group accounted for 21 percent.
• Of the 20 fatally-injured workers in the Richmond area, 80 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for both wage and salary workers and the self-employed was transportation incidents.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI uses a variety of state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2018 national data, over 24,800 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, some of which may be outside the scope of other agencies or regulatory coverage. Comparisons between CFOI counts and those released by other agencies should account for the different coverage requirements and definitions used by each agency. For more information on the scope of CFOI, see www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries. Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees’ Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; state vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; state departments of health, labor, and industrial relations and workers’ compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Bulletin Number 13-01, February 2013. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of Amelia, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, King William, New Kent, Powhatan, Prince George, and Sussex Counties in Virginia; and Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Petersburg, and Richmond Cities in Virginia.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Richmond, VA, 2017–18

Event or exposure (1)	2017	2018
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	18	20	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	8	6	30
Intentional injury by person	8	5	25
Homicides	3	2	10
Shooting by other person—intentional	3	2	10
Suicides	5	3	15
Transportation incidents	6	8	40
Pedestrian vehicular incident	1	2	10
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in work zone	--	1	5
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in work zone	--	1	5
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in roadway	--	1	5
Pedestrian struck by vehicle propelled by another vehicle in roadway	--	1	5
Roadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	4	5	25
Roadway collision with other vehicle	1	2	10
Roadway collision moving in same direction	--	1	5
Roadway collision moving in opposite directions, oncoming	--	1	5
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	3	2	10
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	3	2	10
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicle	--	1	5
Nonroadway noncollision incident	--	1	5
Jack-knifed or overturned, nonroadway	--	1	5
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	--	1	5
Exposure to electricity	--	1	5
Direct exposure to electricity	--	1	5
Direct exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts	--	1	5
Contact with objects and equipment	--	4	20
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	--	3	15
Struck, caught, or crushed in other collapsing structure or equipment	--	2	10
Engulfment in other collapsing material	--	1	5
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Richmond, VA, 2017–18

Industry (1)	2017	2018
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	18	20	100
Private industry	15	18	90
Goods producing	--	9	45
Natural resources and mining	--	4	20
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	--	4	20
Crop production	--	1	5
Oilseed and grain farming	--	1	5
Other grain farming	--	1	5
Oilseed and grain combination farming	--	1	5
Animal production and aquaculture	--	3	15
Cattle ranching and farming	--	3	15
Beef cattle ranching and farming, including feedlots	--	--	--
Beef cattle ranching and farming	--	1	5
Construction	--	5	25
Construction of buildings	1	1	5
Nonresidential building construction	--	1	5
Commercial and institutional building construction	--	1	5
Heavy and civil engineering construction	--	1	5
Highway, street, and bridge construction	--	1	5
Highway, street, and bridge construction	--	1	5
Specialty trade contractors	--	3	15
Building equipment contractors	--	--	--
Electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors	--	1	5
Nonresidential electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors	--	1	5
Building finishing contractors	--	1	5
Flooring contractors	--	1	5
Residential flooring contractors	--	1	5
Service providing	13	9	45
Trade, transportation, and utilities	8	6	30
Retail trade	--	--	--
Food and beverage stores	--	1	5
Grocery stores	--	1	5
Convenience stores	--	1	5
Transportation and warehousing	7	3	15
Truck transportation	5	3	15
Specialized freight trucking	4	1	5
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, long-distance	--	1	5
Professional and business services	--	--	--
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	--	1	5
Administrative and support services	--	1	5
Business support services	--	1	5
Other business support services	--	1	5
Repossession services	--	1	5
Government (2)	3	--	--
Local government	1	1	5
Service providing	1	1	5
Public administration	1	1	5
Justice, public order, and safety activities	1	1	5
Justice, public order, and safety activities	1	1	5
Fire protection	--	1	5
Footnotes: (1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2012. (2) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Richmond, VA, 2017–18

Occupation (1)	2017	2018
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	18	20	100
Management, business, science, and arts occupations	2	7	35
Management, business, and financial occupations	1	4	20
Management occupations	1	4	20
Other management occupations	1	4	20
Agricultural managers	--	4	20
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	--	4	20
Professional and related occupations	1	3	15
Service occupations	--	1	5
Protective service occupations	1	1	5
First-line supervisors/managers, protective service occupations	--	1	5
First-line supervisors of fire fighting and prevention workers	--	1	5
First-line supervisors of fire fighting and prevention workers	--	1	5
Sales and office occupations	--	2	10
Sales and related occupations	--	1	5
Retail sales workers	--	1	5
Cashiers	--	1	5
Cashiers	--	1	5
Office and administrative support occupations	--	1	5
Financial clerks	--	1	5
Bill and account collectors	--	1	5
Bill and account collectors	--	1	5
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations	5	6	30
Construction and extraction occupations	--	4	20
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	--	2	10
First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers	--	2	10
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	--	2	10
Other construction and related workers	--	1	5
Highway maintenance workers	--	1	5
Highway maintenance workers	--	1	5
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations	9	3	15
Transportation and material moving occupations	9	3	15
Motor vehicle operators	6	3	15
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	5	3	15
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	5	3	15
Footnotes: (1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Richmond, VA, 2017–18

Worker characteristics	2017	2018
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	18	20	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	15	16	80
Self-employed (2)	3	4	20
Gender
Men	16	18	90
Age (3)
25 to 34 years	3	4	20
35 to 44 years	5	3	15
45 to 54 years	6	3	15
55 to 64 years	3	8	40
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	8	17	85
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	6	3	15
Footnotes: (1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. (2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships. (3) Information may not be available for all age groups. (4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude Hispanic and Latino workers.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.