2004 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries — 2005-08-25

A total of 5,703 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2004, an increase of 2 percent from the revised total of 5,575 fatal work injuries reported for 2003. Despite the increase, the total for 2004 was the third lowest annual total recorded by the fatality census, which has been conducted each year since 1992. The rate at which fatal work injuries occurred in 2004 was 4.1 per 100,000 workers, up slightly from a rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers in 2002 and 2003. The increase in the fatality rate in 2004 was the first since 1994 when the rate was 5.3 fatalities per 100,000 workers. * Fatal work injuries among Hispanic workers were up 11 percent in 2004 after declining the previous two years.