Fatal work injuries totaled 33 in 2017 for Alaska, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Alaska was was little changed from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 91 in 1992 to a low of 14 in 2015. (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 Alaska, transportation incidents resulted in 18 fatal work injuries, accounting for 55 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.) The number of worker deaths from transportation incidents fell by six over the year.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals, along with falls, slips, or trips were the second most frequent fatal work event with six fatalities each. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in one fewer work-related death than in 2016, while fatalities from falls, slips, or trips rose by six

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 agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Alaska with 16, compared to 4 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in the sector with 12 worker deaths. Fourteen of those fatally injured worked in fishing.

The private transportation and warehousing sector had three workplace fatalities in 2017. Air transportation accounted for all of the fatalities in this industry.

Occupation

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 14. (See table 3.) Thirteen of these fatalities were fishers and related fishing workers.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 94 percent of the work-related fatalities in Alaska, similar to the national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 55 percent of the fatalities for men in Alaska.
• White non-hispanics accounted for 67 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group also accounted for 67 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 55 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2017, compared to the national average of 57 percent.
• Of the 33 fatal work injuries in Alaska, 76 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the 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 2016 national data, over 23,300 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. 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/pdf/homch9.pdf.

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.

Acknowledgments. BLS 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, Alaska, 2016–17

Event or exposure (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	35	33	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	7	6	18
Intentional injury by person	6	5	15
Homicides (Intentional injury by other person)	2	3	9
Shooting by other person--intentional	2	3	9
Suicides (Self-inflicted injury--intentional)	4	--	--
Shooting--intentional self-harm	--	1	3
Animal and insect related incidents	--	1	3
Struck by animal	--	1	3
Mauled, clawed, or scratched by animal	--	1	3
Transportation incidents	24	18	55
Aircraft incidents	13	4	12
Other in-flight crash	13	4	12
Other in-flight crash into structure, object, or ground	6	4	12
Water vehicle incidents	5	12	36
Capsized or sinking water vehicle	--	8	24
Fall or jump from water vehicle	2	4	12
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	--	1	3
Nonroadway noncollision incident	--	1	3
Jack-knifed or overturned, nonroadway	--	1	3
Falls, slips, trips	--	6	18
Falls to lower level	--	5	15
Other fall to lower level	--	5	15
Other fall to lower level 11 to 15 feet	--	2	6
Contact with objects and equipment	--	1	3
Struck by object or equipment	--	1	3
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	--	1	3
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, Alaska, 2016–17

Industry (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	35	33	100
Private industry	29	31	94
Natural resources and mining	4	16	48
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	4	16	48
Fishing, hunting and trapping	3	14	42
Fishing	3	14	42
Fishing	3	14	42
Finfish fishing	3	7	21
Shellfish fishing	--	7	21
Trade, transportation, and utilities	10	6	18
Wholesale trade	--	1	3
Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods	--	1	3
Miscellaneous nondurable goods merchant wholesalers	--	1	3
Paint, varnish, and supplies merchant wholesalers	--	1	3
Retail trade	--	2	6
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	--	1	3
Building material and supplies dealers	--	1	3
Clothing and clothing accessories stores	--	1	3
Jewelry, luggage, and leather goods stores	--	1	3
Jewelry stores	--	1	3
Transportation and warehousing	10	3	9
Air transportation	6	3	9
Scheduled air transportation	3	1	3
Scheduled air transportation	3	1	3
Scheduled passenger air transportation	3	1	3
Nonscheduled air transportation	3	2	6
Nonscheduled air transportation	3	2	6
Nonscheduled chartered passenger air transportation	3	1	3
Nonscheduled chartered freight air transportation	--	1	3
Professional and business services	6	--	--
Professional and technical services	6	1	3
Professional, scientific, and technical services	6	1	3
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services	--	1	3
Environmental consulting services	--	1	3
Educational and health services	--	1	3
Health care and social assistance	--	1	3
Social assistance	--	1	3
Community food and housing, and emergency and other relief services	--	1	3
Community food services	--	1	3
Other services, except public administration	1	--	--
Other services, except public administration	1	--	--
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations	--	1	3
Religious organizations	--	1	3
Government (2)	6	--	--
Federal government	2	1	3
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, Alaska, 2016–17

Occupation (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	35	33	100
Management occupations	--	1	3
Top executives	--	1	3
Chief executives	--	1	3
Chief executives	--	1	3
Life, physical, and social science occupations	--	1	3
Life scientists	--	1	3
Biological scientists	--	1	3
Community and social service occupations	--	--	--
Religious workers	--	1	3
Directors, religious activities and education	--	1	3
Directors, religious activities and education	--	1	3
Sales and related occupations	--	3	9
Supervisors of sales workers	--	3	9
First-line supervisors of sales workers	--	3	9
First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers	--	1	3
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	4	14	42
Fishing and hunting workers	3	13	39
Fishers and related fishing workers	3	13	39
Fishers and related fishing workers	3	13	39
Construction and extraction occupations	--	4	12
Construction trades workers	--	4	12
Construction equipment operators	--	1	3
Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators	--	1	3
Transportation and material moving occupations	11	4	12
Air transportation workers	8	3	9
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	8	3	9
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	3	1	3
Commercial pilots	5	2	6
Water transportation workers	2	1	3
Ship and boat captains and operators	1	1	3
Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels	1	1	3
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, Alaska, 2016–17

Worker characteristics	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	35	33	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	32	25	76
Self-employed (2)	3	8	24
Gender
Men	32	31	94
Women	--	2	6
Age (3)
18 to 19 years	--	1	3
20 to 24 years	4	2	6
25 to 34 years	5	9	27
35 to 44 years	11	5	15
45 to 54 years	4	4	12
55 to 64 years	7	8	24
65 years and over	--	4	12
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White (non-Hispanic)	24	22	67
American Indian or Alaska Native (non-Hispanic)	4	3	9
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.