Fatal work injuries totaled 75 in 2012 for New York City, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Chief Regional Economist Martin Kohli noted that while the 2012 count was preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in New York City increased by three over the year. Fatal occupational injuries in the City have ranged from a high of 191 in 1993 to a low of 63 in 2009. Over the last four years, the City has had an average of 70 work fatalities per year. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a preliminary total of 4,383 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2012, down from a final count of 4,693 fatal work injuries in 2011, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2012 CFOI data will be released in spring 2014.

Of the 75 fatal work injuries reported in New York City in 2012, 26 resulted from violence and other injuries by persons or animals and 21 from falls, slips, and trips. Transportation incidents accounted for an additional 13 deaths. (See table 1. Fatal workplace violence involved homicides in almost two-thirds of the cases, with shootings in 10 incidents. The most frequent fatal falls (19) were those that occurred to lower levels, with six cases involving falls through surfaces or existing openings of more than 30 feet. (Note that transportation counts presented in this release are expected to rise when updated 2012 data are released in Spring 2014 because key source documentation detailing specific transportation-related incidents has not yet been received.)

In the United States, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event, accounting for 41 percent of fatal work injuries. New York City’s share of on-the-job fatalities due to this event, however, was far below the national percentage, at 17 percent. (See chart 2.) Violence and other injuries was the second most frequent type of event nationally, with 17 percent of work-related fatalities, slightly less than half the event’s share in New York City (35 percent). Contact with objects or equipment (16 percent) and falls, slips, and trips (15 percent) were the third and fourth most frequent events, respectively, in the nation.

Additional key characteristics:

• The trade, transportation, and utilities sector had the largest number of fatalities with 26, up from 17 the previous year. (See table 2.) Violence and other injuries by persons or animals accounted for 14 of the worker deaths.
• The construction industry had the second highest fatality count with 20, a rise of 4 from one year earlier. Falls, trips, and slips accounted for 11 of the worker deaths in this sector, and contact with objects and equipment accounted for 4.
• Professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, local government, and other services each reported a reduction in fatal work injuries of at least 50 percent from 2011 levels.
• Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 25. (See table 3.) Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 13 of these incidents. Transportation and material moving occupations had the second highest fatality count at 15. The majority of these fatalities were motor vehicle operators (10), including driver/sales workers and truck drivers.
• Men accounted for 73, or 97 percent of work-related fatalities in the City. (See table 4.) Violence made up slightly more than one out of every three of these fatalities.
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 43, or 57 percent, of the City’s work-related fatalities in 2011. Nationally, workers in this group accounted for the same percentage of on-the-job fatalities.
• Black and Hispanic or Latino workers were the decedents in close to 50 percent of the workplace deaths. Nationwide, these two groups amounted to 26 percent of work-related deaths.
• Of the 75 occupational fatalities in New York City, 75 percent worked for wages and salaries; the rest were self-employed. Fall, slips, and trips accounted for 17 incidents among decedents who were wage and salary workers. Among the self employed, violence and other injuries by people or animals accounted for the greatest share of deaths.

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.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, part of the BLS occupational safety and health statistics program, compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The program uses diverse state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible.

For technical information about the CFOI program, please go to the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS web site here: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/home.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries includes data for all fatal work injuries, whether the decedent was working in a job covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or other federal or state agencies or was outside the scope of regulatory coverage. Thus, any comparison between the BLS fatality census counts and those released by other agencies should take into account the different coverage requirements and definitions being used by each agency.

Acknowledgments. The Bureau of Labor Statistics appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that submitted source documents used to identify fatal work injuries, in particular the New York City government.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, New York City, 2011-2012

Event or exposure(1)	2011	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	72	75	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	24	26	35
Intentional injury by person	24	25	33
Intentional injury by other person	16	17	23
Shooting by other person--intentional	12	10	13
Stabbing, cutting, slashing, piercing	--	4	5
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	8	8	11
Shooting--intentional self-harm	--	3	4
Jumping from building or other structure--intentional self-harm	--	3	4
Transportation incidents	13	13	17
Animal and other non-motorized vehicle transportation incidents	--	1	1
Pedal cycle incident	--	1	1
Pedestrian vehicular incident	7	6	8
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in roadway	3	3	4
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in roadway	--	3	4
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	4	5	7
Roadway collision with other vehicle	--	4	5
Falls, slips, trips	15	21	28
Falls to lower level	12	19	25
Fall through surface or existing opening	--	6	8
Fall through surface or existing opening more than 30 feet	--	6	8
Other fall to lower level	10	11	15
Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet	--	4	5
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	6	6	8
Exposure to electricity	--	3	4
Direct exposure to electricity	--	3	4
Exposure to other harmful substances	3	3	4
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose	--	3	4
Contact with objects and equipment	13	7	9
Struck by object or equipment	7	4	5
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	3	3	4
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward. Total may include other events not shown. (p) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2014.
Note: 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. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, New York City, 2011-2012

Industry(1)	2011	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	72	75	100
Private industry	61	68	91
Construction	16	20	27
Construction of buildings	5	5	7
Residential building construction	4	4	5
Residential remodelers	3	3	4
Specialty trade contractors	8	15	20
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	5	6	8
Building equipment contractors	--	5	7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	17	26	35
Wholesale trade	--	3	4
Retail trade	7	14	19
Food and beverage stores	--	4	5
Grocery stores	--	3	4
Clothing and clothing accessories stores	--	2	3
Clothing stores	--	2	3
Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores	--	1	1
Book, periodical, and music stores	1	1	1
Nonstore retailers	--	2	3
Transportation and warehousing	8	9	12
Truck transportation	--	3	4
Couriers and messengers	--	3	4
Information	--	4	5
Financial activities	3	3	4
Finance and insurance	--	1	1
Insurance carriers and related activities	--	1	1
Professional and business services	8	4	5
Educational and health services	--	4	5
Health care and social assistance	--	4	5
Other ambulatory health care services	--	1	1
Other ambulatory health care services	--	1	1
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	1	1	1
Leisure and hospitality	7	3	4
Accommodation and food services	6	3	4
Other services, except public administration	6	3	4
Government(2)	11	7	9
State government	--	3	4
Local government	10	4	5
Footnotes: (1) Industry data are based on the North American Industry Classification System, 2007. Total may include other industries not shown. (2) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. (p) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2014.
Note: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, New York City, 2011-2012

Occupation(1)	2011	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	72	75	100
Management occupations	5	5	7
Other management occupations	3	4	5
Social and community service managers	--	1	1
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	--	1	1
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	--	3	4
Sales and related occupations	6	12	16
Supervisors of sales workers	3	10	13
First-line supervisors of sales workers	3	10	13
Other sales and related workers	--	1	1
Miscellaneous sales and related workers	--	1	1
Door-to-door sales workers, news and street vendors, and related workers	--	1	1
Office and administrative support occupations	--	4	5
Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers	--	4	5
Stock clerks and order fillers	--	3	4
Construction and extraction occupations	18	25	33
Construction trades workers	9	19	25
Construction laborers	6	11	15
Other construction and related workers	4	5	7
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3	3	4
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	--	3	4
Transportation and material moving occupations	17	15	20
Motor vehicle operators	11	10	13
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	5	8	11
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	--	4	5
Light truck or delivery services drivers	--	3	4
Material moving workers	5	4	5
Laborers and material movers, hand	4	4	5
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	4	3	4
Footnotes: (1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010. Total may include occupations not shown. (p) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2014.
Note: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by worker characteristics, New York City, 2011-2012

Worker characteristics	2011	2012(p)
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	72	75	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers(1)	62	56	75
Self-employed(2)	10	19	25
Gender
Men	66	73	97
Age(3)
20 to 24 years	4	5	7
25 to 34 years	14	17	23
35 to 44 years	17	13	17
45 to 54 years	20	13	17
55 to 64 years	10	14	19
65 years and over	6	13	17
Race or ethnic origin(4)
White, non-Hispanic	30	28	37
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	18	13	17
Hispanic or Latino	17	23	31
Asian, non-Hispanic	7	11	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. (p) Data are preliminary. Revised and final 2012 data are scheduled to be released in Spring 2014.
Note: Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Percentages may not add to totals because of rounding. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatality counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, in cooperation with State, New York City, District of Columbia, and Federal agencies, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.