Organization(s):
CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training
Summary Statement
A broad collection of tables and charts covering health and safety in the U.S. construction industry, as well as considerable economic and training data.
2007
Injury numbers and rates vary widely among construction occupations. For the period 2003-2005,1 ironworkers (structural iron and steel workers in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' occupational code) and electrical power installers had the highest rates of work-related deaths at, respectively, 68.9 and 57.3 per 100,000 full-time workers (chart 35a). The death rate for ironworkers during that same three-year period was almost six times higher than the rate of 11.6 per 100,000 full-time workers for all construction occupations combined. Still, fatal injury rates have declined for these two high-risk occupations since 1992, when ironworkers experienced 143.3 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers and power installers had 149.3 deaths per 100,000 fulltime workers.
Although the rate of work-related deaths among construction laborers was less than half as high as the rate for ironworkers, the number of laborers killed on the job was higher than any other construction occupation – 884 compared with 98 ironworker deaths (chart 35b).
The trends for nonfatal work-related injuries and fatal injuries are different. Construction helpers had the highest rate of nonfatal injuries, at 560.7 per 10,000 full-time workers (chart 35c). Also, sheet metal workers, ironworkers, insulation workers, construction laborers, and truck drivers experienced much higher (at least 50% higher) rates of nonfatal injuries than the injury rate average for all construction occupations combined.
In charts 35a and 35b, the numbers of deaths were obtained from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, see chart book page 32). The number of construction workers, expressed as full-time workers, was obtained from the Current Population Survey (see chart book page 9). The nonfatal injury and illness data in chart 35c are from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), another BLS survey (see chart book page 32). Starting with 2003 data, BLS replaced the 1980 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system with the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system in the CFOI and SOII data collections. BLS also started to use the 2002 Census Occupational Classification system in the Current Population Survey beginning in 2003 (see chart book page 10). Due to coding system modifications and other changes in these three data sources, numbers reported on this page may not be directly comparable to those in previous publications.
1. Since some occupations have a relatively small number of employees, three-year averages are used because they provide more reliable estimates than data from a single year.
Source:
Charts 35a and 35b - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003-2005 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and 2003-2005 Current Population Survey. Calculations by CPWR Data Center.
Chart 35c - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 2005 Current Population Survey. Calculations by CPWR Data Center.
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Organization(s):
CPWR - The Center for Construction Research and Training
Summary Statement
A broad collection of tables and charts covering health and safety in the U.S. construction industry, as well as considerable economic and training data.
2007
Falls are the leading cause of fatal injuries and the second most common cause of nonfatal injuries in construction. In 2005, falls caused 396 of 1,243 work-related deaths from injuries (32%),1 and 36,360 nonfatal injuries – 23% of the total – resulting in days away from work.2 In the period 1992-2005, on average, falls caused about 363 of all work-related deaths among construction workers annually.1 About one-third of the fatal falls were from roofs and 18% were from scaffolding or staging (chart 37a). In 2005, about 97% of fatal falls in construction were falls to a lower level, while about 3% were other types of falls, including falls to the same level.
About 20% of deaths coded as fatal falls by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics were actually from collapses, when the surface a worker was standing on collapsed or tipped over (an aerial lift, for example). From 2003 to 2005, 61% of fatal falls from suspended scaffolds and 53% of falls from aerial lifts were caused by collapse of the scaffold or lift.3 These data point to the need for determining the root causes of falls and for developing safety measures specifically aimed at preventing collapses of scaffolds and lifts. Clearly, precautions put in place to prevent falls do not necessarily prevent such collapses.
Some construction occupations have much higher rates of deaths from falls than others. For instance, more ironworkers are killed from falls (38.7 per 100,000 full-time workers) than workers in any other construction occupation. The rate of workrelated deaths from falls among ironworkers is 10 times higher than the construction average, and among roofers, about six times higher (chart 37b).4
Unlike falls resulting in death, the most common types of nonfatal falls in construction were falls to the same level (34%) and falls from ladders (24%; chart 37c). Although the rate of nonfatal falls has been decreasing in recent years, construction workers in 2005 experienced almost twice the rate of such falls as workers in all industries on average.2 In construction, 60% of nonfatal falls were to a lower level (or 21,750 out of 36,360) compared with natural resources and mining (where 43% of nonfatal falls were to a lower level) and manufacturing (29%). For all industries, falls to a lower level are, on average, 31% of all nonfatal falls.5
Among construction occupations, in 2005, sheet metal workers had the highest rate of nonfatal work-related injuries from falls at 144.2 per 10,000 full-time workers, followed by insulation workers with a rate of 98.6 per 10,000 full-time workers (chart 37d). Further interventions are needed to reduce deaths and injuries from falls in construction, particularly in these highrisk occupations.
1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1992-2005 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Calculations by CPWR Data Center.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table R75, //www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/ostb1731.pdf (Accessed November 2007).
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2003-2005 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Calculations by Michael McCann, CPWR.
4. Because many construction workers work part-time in construction, safety and health statistics are defined in terms of full-time equivalents to allow comparisons with other industries. Full-time work is defined as 2,000 hours worked per year.
5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table R64, //www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/ostb1720.pdf (Accessed November 2007).
Note:
Chart 37a - "Other" fatal falls includes falls through
existing floor openings, from nonmoving vehicles, from aerial lifts, etc. In 1992-2005, there was a total of 5,081 work-related deaths from falls.
Chart 37b - Falls caused 1,209 deaths in construction in 2003-2005.
Charts 37b and 37d - Full-time work is defined as 2,000 hours worked per year.
Chart 37c - "Other" causes include jump to a lower level; fall from floor, dock, or ground level; fall from non-moving vehicle; and fall down stairs or steps.
Charts 37c and 37d - Based on 36,360 nonfatal falls. Data cover the private industry only and exclude the self-employed.
Source: Charts 37a and 37b - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1992-2005 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and 1992-2005 Current Population Survey. Calculations by CPWR Data Center.
Chart 37c - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table R64, //www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/ostb1720.pdf (Accessed November 2007).
Chart 37d - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table R75, //www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/ostb1731.pdf (Accessed November 2007). Calculations by CPWR Data Center.
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