Fatal Occupational Injuries – United States, 1980-1994

CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) monitors occupational injury deaths through death certificates compiled for the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system. Previous reports analyzed data from 1980-1989. This report updates these estimates on the magnitude of work-related injury deaths for the United States from 1980 through 1994, the most recent year for which data are available from this system, and identifies high-risk industries and occupations at national and state-specific levels. The findings indicate that the annual total number of deaths and crude death rates decreased from 7405 (7.5 per 100,000 workers) in 1980 to 5406 (4.4 per 100,000 workers) in 1994. Deaths among military workers are not included in this analysis. A bar graph of number and rate of occupational injury deaths, a line graph of rates for leading causes of occupational injury deaths, and a table of leading causes of occupational injury deaths and major industry and occupation categories with highest death rates, by state, are included in this article.