Fatal work injuries totaled 20 in 2017 for Hawaii, 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 Hawaii decreased from the 29 fatalities in the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 41 in 2001 to a low of 11 in 2013. (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 Hawaii, transportation incidents resulted in 10 fatal work injuries and falls, slips and trips accounted for 5 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 75 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.) The number of worker deaths from transportation incidents dropped by 10 over the year.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2017, 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 (17 percent), followed by falls, slips, or trips (16 percent).

Industry

Among private industry, the construction sector had the highest number of fatalities in Hawaii with five, similar to the count in the previous year. (See table 2.) Administrative and waste services had two worker deaths, and the educational services industry accounted for one fatality.

Six of the seven workplace fatalities in the public sector occurred in federal government.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 90 percent of the work-related fatalities in Hawaii. Nationally, men accounted for 93 percent of the workplace fatalities. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 44 percent of the fatalities for men in Hawaii.
• White non-Hispanics accounted for 30 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 70 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2017, compared to 55 percent nationwide.

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 2017 national data, over 23,400 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/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.

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, Hawaii, 2016–17

Event or exposure (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	29	20	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	--	3	15
Intentional injury by person	--	3	15
Homicides (Intentional injury by other person)	--	1	5
Transportation incidents	20	10	50
Aircraft incidents	15	6	30
Other in-flight crash	12	6	30
Other in-flight crash into structure, object, or ground	--	6	30
Falls, slips, trips	5	5	25
Falls to lower level	3	3	15
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, Hawaii, 2016–17

Industry (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	29	20	100
Private industry	12	13	65
Construction	4	5	25
Construction	4	5	25
Specialty trade contractors	--	1	5
Professional and business services	--	2	10
Administrative and waste services	--	2	10
Administrative and support services	--	1	5
Services to buildings and dwellings	--	1	5
Educational services	2	1	20
Government (2)	17	7	35
Federal government	15	6	30
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, Hawaii, 2016–17

Occupation (1)	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	29	20	100
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	--	--	--
Construction and extraction occupations	3	5	25
Construction trades workers	--	5	25
Transportation and material moving occupations	4	--	--
Air transportation workers	1	1	5
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	1	1	5
Commercial pilots	1	1	5
Military specific occupations (2)	14	6	30
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, Hawaii, 2016–17

Worker characteristics	2016	2017
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	29	20	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	28	18	90
Self-employed (2)	--	--	--
Gender
Men	29	18	90
Women	--	2	10
Age (3)
25 to 34 years	9	8	40
35 to 44 years	3	3	15
45 to 54 years	4	3	15
65 years and over	--	5	25
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White (non-Hispanic)	18	6	30
Black or African-American (non-Hispanic)	--	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	--	--	--
Asian (non-Hispanic)	4	5	25
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic)	--	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.