Occupational fatalities among older workers in the United States.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Marsh SM ; Myers JR
• Description:
  Workers 55 years of age and older have been identified as a population at high risk of fatal occupational injuries. This is especially true for the agricultural production industry. The need to understand these high fatality risks for older workers is increasing in importance because of the aging of the U.S. workforce. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) surveillance system, for the years 1992 through 1997, were analyzed to provide descriptive statistics on all occupational fatalities occurring to workers 55 year of age and older, and statistics specific to the production agriculture industry. Fatality rates were calculated based on employment information from the BLS Current Population Survey (CPS). Between 1992 and 1997, there were 36,932 occupational fatalities identified by CFOI, of which 7,967 (22%) occurred to workers 55 years of age and older, for a fatality rate of 8.8 deaths/100,000 workers. The leading sources of injury for these older worker deaths were: highway vehicles (27%); plant and industrial vehicles (13%); and floors and other working surfaces (12%). The leading events causing these fatalities were: highway transportation (21%); non-highway transportation (13%); and violent acts and assaults (13%). Approximately 25 percent of these deaths occurred in the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing industrial division. During the same time period, there were 3,503 deaths in production agriculture, of which 1,823 (52%) occurred to workers 55 years of age and older. The fatality rate for these older production agriculture workers was 46 deaths/100,000 workers. The leading sources of injury for these older production agriculture workers were: tractors (45%); trucks (8%); and agricultural mowers (5%). These data indicate that older workers in general, and older workers in production agriculture specifically, are a key special population to address in future injury prevention efforts.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Monitoring Microbiology Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Accident Rates Accidents Accident Statistics Age Factors Age Groups Agricultural Machinery Agricultural Workers Epidemiology Fishing Industry Forestry Forestry Workers Injuries Injury Prevention Mortality Data Mortality Rates Mortality Surveys Statistical Analysis Surveillance Programs Traumatic Injuries

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• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021004
• Citation:
  NOIRS 2000 Abstracts of the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium 2000, October 17-19, 2000, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, PA: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2000 Oct; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1141 - Fishing - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:308aeceb0ba9d06dcfddec18a24c3d933f51ab5901d55beb8f2114d1bf573d087899468efebfc8447b1d7a5c2215b8526f27de56ef2ccb6b27481155b2268555
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181091/cdc_181091_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 468.71 KB ]