Eleven Years of Occupational Mortality in Law Enforcement: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1992–2002

Details

• Personal Author:
  Amandus HA ; Bell JL ; Hendricks SA ; Tiesman, Hope M.
• Description:
  Background: Occupational injury deaths remain high for Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs). This study describes and compares intentional and transportation-related fatality rates in US LEOs between 1992 and 2002. Methods: Workplace injury deaths among LEOs from 1992 to 2002 were categorized into Intentional, Transportation-related, and Other, using the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Occupations included in this analysis were sheriffs and bailiffs, police and detectives, non-public service guards, and correctional officers. Fatality rates were compared among law enforcement occupations, cause of death, and demographics with rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: During the 11-year period, 2,280 workers died from an occupational injury, for a fatality rate of 11.8 per 100,000 across all LEO occupations. Forty-seven percent were homicides (n = 1,072, rate 5.6 per 100,000), 36% transportation-related (n = 815, rate 4.2 per 100,000), 11% were due to other causes (n = 249, rate 1.3 per 100,000), and 5% were workplace suicides (n = 122, rate 0.6 per 100,000). The proportion of fatalities by cause of death differed significantly between occupations (P < 0.0001). Sheriffs and bailiffs experience a high risk for occupational injury death compared to other law enforcement occupations. Of the transportation-related fatalities, LEOs were operating a motor-vehicle in 58% of the incidents and 22% of the fatalities were struck by incidents. Conclusions: Transportation-related deaths were nearly as common as homicides as a cause of occupational injury death among US LEOs. Struck by vehicle incidents remain an important and overlooked cause of death. This research points to opportunities for the prevention of transportation-related deaths in law enforcement. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Emergency Responders Epidemiology Law Enforcement Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: CFOI Demographic Characteristics Emergency Responders Fatality Rates Injuries Law Enforcement Law Enforcement Workers Mortality Data Mortality Rates Mortality Surveys Occupation Police Statistical Analysis Surveillance Traumatic Injuries Traumatic Injury

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 7 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  53
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037129
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2010 Sep; 53(9):940-949
• Contact Point Address:
  Hope M. Tiesman, NIOSH, Division of Safety Research, 1095 Willowdale Road, M/S 1811, Morgantown, WV 26506
• Email:
  htiesman@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1a39e5e91091adbd4b5beb792aab132f0a33fd8d976b7a72ee8830ffcdedd9405028691958e37d9f30c5002d30aaacff033ee253ec4a9d57a9dcd29e5f0a2d51
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188278/cdc_188278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 117.66 KB ]