1998 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries — 1999-08-04

The number of fatal work injuries fell to 6,026 during 1998, about 3 percent below the previous year and the lowest count since the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, began in 1992. An 18 percent drop in job-related homicides accounted for a large portion of the decline. (See table 1.) Deaths from workers being struck by falling objects or caught in running machinery also fell from their 1997 totals. In contrast, worker deaths from highway crashes, from being struck by vehicles, and from contacts with overhead powerlines were at their highest levels during the 7-year period. The construction industry reported the largest number of fatal work injuries of any industry and accounted for nearly one-fifth of the fatality total in 1998. Highway crashes continued as the leading cause of on-the-job fatalities during 1998, accounting for 24 percent of the fatal work injury total.