Michigan Workplace Fatalities Down in 2015: Report

The total number of fatal work injuries is up slightly across the nation, according to year-over-year data released by the U.S. Department of Labor. In Michigan, there were 134 fatal injuries in 2015, a decrease from 143 work-related injury deaths the year prior.

The department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics last week released data related to fatal occupational injuries in 2015. The year-over-year comparison found in the National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2015 shows only a slight elevation in the number of deaths nationally. A total of 4,836 fatal work injuries were logged across the country in 2015 versus 4,821 in 2014.

Michigan ranked 10th overall for workplace fatalities, behind Texas, California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Illinois and North Carolina, which ranked 1-9, respectively.

Michigan’s fatal injuries were in the following categories (2o14 numbers in parentheses):

• Violence and other injuries by persons or animals: 35 (32)
• Transportation incidents: 45 (51)
• Fires and explosions: 3 (3)
• Falls, slips and trips: 19 (24)
• Exposure to harmful substances or environments: 10 (11)
• Contact with objects and equipment: 22 (22)

In Michigan, 85 of the fatalities were among hourly and salaried workers, compared with 49 among self-employed individuals. Men were far more likely than women to be fatally injured, 119 to 15, respectively. And older workers were more likely than their younger counterparts to die on the job.

Fatality numbers by age group were (2o14 numbers in parentheses):

• Under 16: 1 (0)
• 16-17 years: 1 (0)
• 18-19 years: 1 (0)
• 20-24 years: 9 (11)
• 25-34 years: 19 (21)
• 35-44 years: 23 (32)
• 45-54 years: 28 (31)
• 55-64 years: 26 (26)
• 65 and older: 26 (22)

Though the elevation in fatalities was slight nationwide year-over-year, the bureau said the number recorded in 2015 was the highest since 2008 when 5,214 fatal injuries occurred in workplaces across the country.

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers experienced more fatalities nationwide in 2015 than workers in any other occupation, the bureau said. The number was 745. The private construction industry as a whole (all occupations considered) also saw 937 fatal work injuries in 2015. The bureau said that number is the highest since 2008 when 975 workers died.

Older workers accounted for fewer deaths in 2015 than they did in 2014. Even so, the 650 deaths involving workers age 65 and older in 2015 was “the second-largest number for the group since the national census began in 1992,” the agency reported. The number in 2014 was 684.

The census also looked at how workers died with transportation-related incidents topping the list over the year. The total number was 2,054, which includes aircraft, roadway, rail and pedestrian-related accidents. Falls, slips and trips were blamed in 800 deaths across the country with violence and other injuries accounting for 703 deaths. The number of workplace-related homicides was 417 in 2015, up from 409 in 2014. Suicides in the workplace dropped from 280 nationally in 2014 to 229 in 2015.

To check out the full report, visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics online.

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