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Profile of Previous Years of Fatal Work Injuries
While fatal highway incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal work-related event, accounting for nearly one out of four fatal work injuries, the number of highway incidents fell 8 percent in 2006. The 1,329 fatal highway
incidents in 2006 was the lowest annual total since 1993. Non-highway incidents(such as those that might occur on a farm or industrial premises) remained at about the same level in 2006. Work-related pedestrian fatalities were lower.
Aircraft related fatalities increased sharply in 2006 after declining in 2005. The 215 fatalities involving aircraft in 2006 represented a 44 percent increase over the 149 in 2005. Overall, there were 44 multiple-fatality aircraft
incidents claiming 137 workers in 2006, including one (the August 2006 Comair crash) that resulted in 23 fatalities. The annual number of aircraft fatalities tends to be volatile and has ranged from a high of 426 fatalities in 1994 to a low of 149 in 2005.
Fatal work injuries involving falls increased 5 percent in 2006 after a sharp decrease in 2005. The 809 fatal falls in 2006 was the third highest total since 1992, when the fatality census began. Fatal falls from roofs increased from 160 fatalities in 2005 to 184 in 2006, a rise of 15 percent.
Workplace homicides decreased 9 percent to 516 in 2006, the lowest annual total ever reported by the fatality census. Overall, workplace homicides have decreased more than 50 percent from the series high in 1994.
The number of workers who were fatally injured from being struck by objects was lower in 2006, after increasing for the last three years. The 583 fatalities resulting from being struck by objects in 2006 represented a 4 percent
decline from the 2005 total.
Fatalities involving fires and explosions increased by 26 percent in 2006, rising from 159 in 2005 to 201 in 2006. Fatalities resulting from exposure to harmful substances or environments were also higher in 2006, led by a 12 percent increase in exposure to caustic, noxious, or allergenic substances (from 136 in 2005 to 153 in 2006).
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