Recorded fatal injuries totaled 5,702. Deaths to Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 917. That is up 15 from the 902 Hispanic or Latino worker deaths in 2004. Deaths to Immigrant Latino workers increased 29 from 2004 to 625. Among Black workers, job fatalities increased for the third year in a row, to 577 recorded deaths compared to 546 deaths in 2004.
Young workers also saw increased fatalities. For those under 20 years of age deaths were up 18 percent to 166 deaths. But even more alarming is the increase in deaths among workers less than 16. Among these young workers, job-related deaths skyrocketed by 85 percent, with 24 children losing their lives at work.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industry workers deaths increased to 714, 45 more than the 669 deaths reported 2004.
There was a sharp increase in the number of workers dying from heat exposure. A particular hazard for agriculture workers – up from 18 deaths in 2004 to 47 deaths in 2005.
Workers in Wisconsin, Montana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Arizona, South Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Texas and Missouri all saw significant increases in job fatalities. In three of these states (Wisconsin, Montana and Mississippi) , workplace deaths increased by more than 25 percent.
These reported deaths are from 2005, and don’t include the recent fatalities from this year’s coal mine disasters, which now stand at 37 deaths for 2006. These fatality numbers also don’t include deaths from occupational diseases, which are estimated to be 50,000 to 60,000 a year.
The BLS survey can be found at: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf
Additional tables/charts can be found at: http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm
