Fatal work injuries totaled 299 in 2017 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Florida was down from 309 in the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 422 in 2004 to a low of 218 in 2012. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a total of 5,147 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2017, down slightly from the 5,190 fatal injuries in 2016, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program.

Type of incident

In Florida, transportation incidents resulted in 107 fatal work injuries and falls, slips, or trips accounted for 62 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 57 percent of all workplace fatalities in Florida. (See table 1.) Worker fatalities from these two events were little changed from the previous year.

Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 48 fatalities, also little changed from 2016. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 43 work-related deaths, down from 48 in 2016.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2017, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Falls, slips, or trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent).

Industry

The private construction sector had the largest number of fatalities in Florida with 75, similar to the count in the previous year. (See table 2.) The specialty trade contractors industry subsector accounted for 49, or 65 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

The private administrative and waste services sector had 52 workplace fatalities compared to 48 in the previous year. Thirty-eight, or 73 percent, of those fatally injured in this sector worked in the services to buildings and dwellings industry group.

Occupation

Transportation and material moving occupations and construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 76 and 63, respectively. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 38 of the 76 fatalities in the transportation and material moving group. Construction laborers accounted for 22 of the 63 workplace fatalities within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 95 percent of the work-related fatalities in Florida, compared to the 93-percent national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 36 percent of the fatalities for men in Florida.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 56 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 67 percent of work-related deaths.

• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 63 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2017, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

• Of the 299 fatally-injured workers in Florida, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for both groups of workers 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, compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI program uses diverse 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 2017 national data, over 23,400 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For the Florida 2017 data, 1,144 unique source documents were reviewed. For technical information and definitions for CFOI, please go to 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, even those that may be outside the scope of other agencies or 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. More on the scope of CFOI can be found at www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity 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.

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, Florida, 2016–17

Event or exposure (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	309	299	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	48	43	14
Intentional injury by person	45	42	14
Homicides (Intentional injury by other person)	28	34	11
Shooting by other person--intentional	22	25	8
Transportation incidents	105	107	36
Aircraft incidents	4	4	1
Rail vehicle incidents	--	5	2
Pedestrian vehicular incident	26	19	6
Water vehicle incidents	--	4	1
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	62	65	22
Roadway collision with other vehicle	43	40	13
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	7	16	5
Roadway noncollision incident	12	9	3
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	12	10	3
Fires and explosions	9	7	2
Explosions	7	7	2
Falls, slips, trips	64	62	21
Falls on same level	10	7	2
Falls to lower level	54	53	18
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	50	48	16
Exposure to electricity	23	19	6
Direct exposure to electricity	10	7	2
Indirect exposure to electricity	13	12	4
Exposure to temperature extremes	4	3	1
Exposure to other harmful substances	21	21	7
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose	17	16	5
Contact with objects and equipment	33	31	10
Struck by object or equipment	21	24	8
Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport	10	12	4
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	7	10	3
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	8	5	2
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, Florida, 2016–17

Industry (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	309	299	100
Private industry	286	282	94
Natural resources and mining	17	13	4
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	17	13	4
Crop production	9	10	3
Construction	76	75	25
Construction	76	75	25
Heavy and civil engineering construction	11	19	6
Specialty trade contractors	61	49	16
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	21	22	7
Building equipment contractors	13	14	5
Building finishing contractors	18	6	2
Other specialty trade contractors	9	7	2
Manufacturing	14	17	6
Trade, transportation, and utilities	68	67	22
Utilities	2	2	1
Wholesale trade	10	3	1
Retail trade	19	16	5
Transportation and warehousing	37	46	15
Truck transportation	18	32	11
General freight trucking	10	14	5
Specialized freight trucking	8	18	6
Support activities for transportation	11	8	3
Information	6	--	--
Financial activities	7	6	2
Professional and business services	53	58	19
Administrative and waste services	48	52	17
Administrative and support services	46	46	15
Services to buildings and dwellings	37	38	13
Landscaping services	33	29	10
Educational and health services	11	7	2
Leisure and hospitality	21	27	9
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	6	9	3
Accommodation and food services	15	18	6
Food services and drinking places	14	14	5
Other services, except public administration	12	10	3
Government (2)	23	17	6
Federal government	1	--	--
State government	4	3	1
Local government	18	14	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, Florida, 2016–17

Occupation (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	309	299	100
Management occupations	7	13	4
Other management occupations	5	7	2
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	4	3	1
Business and financial operations occupations	--	4	1
Financial specialists	--	4	1
Computer and mathematical occupations	--	--	--
Architecture and engineering occupations	--	3	1
Life, physical, and social science occupations	1	--	--
Community and social service occupations	--	--	--
Legal occupations	--	--	--
Education, training, and library occupations	3	--	--
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	3	3	1
Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers	--	3	1
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	3	--	--
Healthcare support occupations	--	--	--
Protective service occupations	14	20	7
Supervisors of protective service workers	1	4	1
Law enforcement workers	6	5	2
Other protective service workers	7	10	3
Food preparation and serving related occupations	5	8	3
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	43	39	13
Supervisors of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers	7	7	2
Building cleaning and pest control workers	6	7	2
Grounds maintenance workers	30	25	8
Personal care and service occupations	7	4	1
Sales and related occupations	21	8	3
Supervisors of sales workers	8	3	1
Office and administrative support occupations	6	4	1
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	12	7	2
Agricultural workers	10	6	2
Construction and extraction occupations	68	63	21
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	5	4	1
Construction trades workers	57	56	19
Carpenters	9	4	1
Construction laborers	10	22	7
Construction equipment operators	6	4	1
Electricians	8	8	3
Painters and paperhangers	6	4	1
Roofers	11	8	3
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	31	34	11
Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers	3	3	1
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers	6	7	2
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	19	20	7
Production occupations	12	7	2
Transportation and material moving occupations	65	76	25
Air transportation workers	2	3	1
Motor vehicle operators	49	54	18
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	43	49	16
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	34	38	13
Light truck or delivery services drivers	3	9	3
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs	6	4	1
Material moving workers	12	13	4
Laborers and material movers, hand	5	7	2
Military specific occupations (2)	--	--	--
Footnotes: (1) Occupation data are based on the Standard Occupational Classification system, 2010. (2) Includes fatal injuries to persons identified as resident armed forces regardless of individual occupation listed.
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, Florida, 2016–17

Worker characteristics	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	309	299	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	263	255	85
Self-employed (2)	46	44	15
Gender
Men	279	283	95
Women	30	16	5
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	21	14	5
25 to 34 years	46	53	18
35 to 44 years	58	61	20
45 to 54 years	77	74	25
55 to 64 years	74	61	20
65 years and over	32	35	12
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	165	168	56
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	44	44	15
Hispanic or Latino	91	81	27
Asian, non-Hispanic	8	4	1
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.