David E. Fosbroke

Injury hazards in the construction industry

Although many occupational injury studies have been conducted on the construction industry, fatal injuries and lost work time injuries in this industry continue to rank among the highest in the nation. This paper presents an analysis of nonfatal (1981 through 1986) and fatal (1980 through 1989) traumatic occupational injuries in the construction industry using the Supplementary Data System and the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities data bases. The lost workday case rate in construction was 10.1 per 100 full-time workers, which was nearly 2.5 times the occupational injury rate for all industries combined. The construction industry had an overall fatality rate of 25.6 per 100,000 full-time workers. This rate was more than 3.5 times the occupational fatality rate for all industries in the United States for the same period. To prevent occupational injuries and fatalities in the construction industry, intervention measures need to target specific occupations: machine operators, transportation workers, and crafts-people. Intervention measures also need to target such causes of injury as falls, electrocutions, and motor vehicle incidents.

Fatal work-related falls from roofs

Abstract Each year over 500 U.S. workers are killed in falls and approximately 20% of these falls are from roofs. This study examines death certificate data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities database and found 288 fatal falls from roofs in 1984–1986, 138 (48%) of which were matched with reports of Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigations. Workers in the construction industry suffered 232 of the 288 fatal falls (80%). Workers in roofing trades (SIC 1761, 104 deaths) and structural steel erection (SIC 1791, 27 deaths) had the greatest frequency of injury. Poorly marked or unguarded roof openings were associated with 42 deaths. There were 24 fatal falls through skylights, and 27 fatal falls through other roof structures or materials unable to support a workers weight. Of the 24 fatal falls through skylights, sufficient details were available to determine that 12 of the 24 involved falls through plastic or fiberglass skylights. Standards for strength requirements for skylights are advisable. Data sources used for this study lacked details concerning use of personal protective equipment such as safety belts and lanyards. However, the study provides general information on falls from roofs that may be useful in planning preventive measures.

Logging fatalities in the united states by region, cause of death, and other factors — 1980 through 1988

Logging has been reported to be one of the most hazardous industries in the United States for fatal injury. However, most studies have been at the state level and did not look at the logging industry specifically, but identified the risk of this industry through comparisons of fatalities across all industries. National data on logging injuries have concentrated on nonfatal injuries, not fatal injuries. To learn more about fatal logging injuries, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health analyzed the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance system for demographic differences in logging fatalities occurring in the United States from 1980 through 1988. The results indicate that there are regional differences in logging fatality rates, with the highest fatality rates occurring in those regions of the country harvesting primarily hardwood sawtimber. No significant differences in fatality rates between African-American and white workers were found.

Working lifetime risk of occupational fatal injury

Estimates of risk accumulated over a working lifetime are used to assess the significance of many workplace health hazards. Utilizing data from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system, estimates of the risk of work-related fatal injuries are provided for the 50 industries and the 50 occupations having the highest risks. Cause-specific risk estimates are provided for the six occupations at the greatest risk of occupational fatal injuries. Results suggest that the risks of certain work-related fatal injuries in some occupations (e.g., loggers being struck by falling objects) are of the same magnitude as risks previously identified for specific occupational illness exposures (e.g., lung cancer among uranium miners exposed to ionizing radiation). Assuming a 45-year working lifetime, cause-specific fatal injury risks reported in this paper range from a predetermined minimum of 1 death per 1,000 lifetime workers to 36.4 deaths per 1,000 lifetime workers. These results suggest that risk assessment for traumatic causes of death should be considered equally with risk assessments for health exposures, such as potential carcinogens.

Motor vehicle fatalities in the United States construction industry

A death certificate-based surveillance system was used to identify 2144 work-related motor vehicle fatalities among civilian workers in the United States construction industry over the years 1980-92. Construction workers were twice as likely to be killed by a motor vehicle as the average worker, with an annual crude mortality rate of 2.3/100,000 workers. Injury prevention efforts in construction have had limited effect on motor vehicle-related deaths, with death rates falling by only 11% during the 13-year period, compared with 43% for falls, 54% for electrocutions and 48% for machinery. In all industries combined, motor vehicle fatality rates dropped by 47%. The largest proportion of motor vehicle deaths (40%) occurred among pedestrians, with construction accounting for more than one-fourth of all pedestrian deaths. A minimum of 54 (6%) of these pedestrian fatalities were flaggers or surveyors. Flaggers accounted for half the 34 pedestrian fatalities among women, compared with only 3% among men. Along with previous studies and recent trends in the amount and type of road construction, these results underscore the need for better traffic control management in construction work areas to reduce pedestrian fatalities. As the second leading cause of traumatic death in construction, with an annual average share of 15% of the total deaths, exceeded only by falls, prevention of work-related motor vehicle research should become a greater priority in the construction industry.

Work-Related Fatal-Injury Risk of Construction Workers by Occupation and Cause of Death

To assess cause- and occupation-specific risks of work related fatal injuries among U.S. construction workers, the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system and Current Population Survey were used to obtain injury and employment data for the years 1990 through 1994. Risks were assessed by both rate and working lifetime risk. The occupation found to have the highest fatal-injury rate in construction was electrical-power installers and repairers (96.6 deaths/100,000 workers), followed by structural-metal workers (86.4) and operating engineers (41.0). The occupation found to have the largest numbers of fatalities was construction laborers (1133 deaths), followed by carpenters (408), and construction supervisors (392). The leading causes of death varied by occupation. Construction in general has experienced a decline in fatal-injury rates over the years; however, this decline did not occur equally across occupations and causes of death. The presentation of working lifetime injury r...

Trends of occupational fatalities involving machines, United States, 1992-2010

BACKGROUND This paper describes trends of occupational machine-related fatalities from 1992-2010. We examine temporal patterns by worker demographics, machine types (e.g., stationary, mobile), and industries. METHODS We analyzed fatalities from Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. We used injury source to identify machine-related incidents and Poisson regression to assess trends over the 19-year period. RESULTS There was an average annual decrease of 2.8% in overall machine-related fatality rates from 1992 through 2010. Mobile machine-related fatality rates decreased an average of 2.6% annually and stationary machine-related rates decreased an average of 3.5% annually. Groups that continued to be at high risk included older workers; self-employed; and workers in agriculture/forestry/fishing, construction, and mining. CONCLUSION Addressing dangers posed by tractors, excavators, and other mobile machines needs to continue. High-risk worker groups should receive targeted information on machine safety.Background This paper describes trends of occupational machine-related fatalities from 1992–2010. We examine temporal patterns by worker demographics, machine types (e.g., stationary, mobile), and industries. Methods We analyzed fatalities from Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. We used injury source to identify machine-related incidents and Poisson regression to assess trends over the 19-year period. Results There was an average annual decrease of 2.8% in overall machine-related fatality rates from 1992 through 2010. Mobile machine-related fatality rates decreased an average of 2.6% annually and stationary machine-related rates decreased an average of 3.5% annually. Groups that continued to be at high risk included older workers; self-employed; and workers in agriculture/forestry/fishing, construction, and mining. Conclusion Addressing dangers posed by tractors, excavators, and other mobile machines needs to continue. High-risk worker groups should receive targeted information on machine safety. Am. J. Ind. Med. 58:1160–1173, 2015. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Lifetime Risk of Fatal Occupational Injuries within Industries, by Occupation, Gender, and Race

Estimates of risk accumulated over a working lifetime are used to assess the significance of many workplace health hazards. Most studies which have estimated this risk have focused on a workers lifetime risk of dying of a stated illness based on exposure to a hazard in a specific job. The concept, however, has not been widely applied to occupational injury deaths. This study examines the use of lifetime risk based on national fatal injury data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). Lifetime risks are defined by specific causal events for those groups identified as having the highest general lifetime risks. The lifetime risk model for injury used in this work can be compared with risk assessments for occupational illnesses. Fatal injury lifetime risk estimates will be useful in defining traumatic injury exposures that are appropriate for targeting research and prevention efforts needed to reduce the burden of work-related death within the United States. The...