2002 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries — 2003-09-17

A total of 5,524 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2002, a decline of 6.6 percent from 2001, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. The count for 2002 was the lowest ever recorded by the fatality census, which has been conducted yearly since 1992. The fatality rate also reached a new low of 4.0 fatal work injuries per 100,000 workers in 2002. In 2001, 5,915 fatal work injuries occurred, excluding the 2,886 work-related fatalities that resulted from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which were tabulated separately. The comparisons in this release do not include the fatalities related to the terrorist attacks. Fatal highway incidents were down 3 percent from 2001, but continued to be the most frequent type of fatal workplace event in 2002, accounting for about a quarter of all fatal work injuries.