Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007

CONTACT

Lori Maldonado
Deputy Director, Communications
303-692-2028

Work-Related Deaths Increased in Colorado in 2006

DENVER - Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment officials Wednesday announced the number of work-related deaths in Colorado increased from 125 in 2005 to 137 in 2006, an increase of almost 10 percent, according to the 2006 Colorado Census of Fatal Occupational
Injuries.

The data identifies transportation fatalities, primarily highway crashes, as the major cause of work-related deaths.

Also identified in the data were the state’s three leading causes of work-related deaths in 2006. They were:

  • transportation fatalities, which include highway, rail and aircraft accidents;
  • assaults and violent acts;
  • contact with objects and equipment.

According to Debra Tuenge, coordinator of the Colorado Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries at the Department of Public Health and Environment, there were approximately five deaths in Colorado for every 100,000 workers in the state’s workforce in 2006.

“Fatal injuries in 2006 were most likely to occur on a Thursday, with a total of 26 deaths,” Tuenge said. “The time of day at which the most fatal injuries occurred was between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. with a total of 16 fatalities during those hours.”

Tuenge further detailed the top three causes of work-related deaths in Colorado as follows:

  1. Transportation deaths continued to be the leading cause of work-related deaths, accounting for 44 percent of the state’s 137 occupational fatalities during 2006. Of Colorado’s 60 transportation-related occupational deaths in 2006, 42 were highway fatalities compared to 35 the previous year, and nine resulted from aircraft accidents, down from 18 fatalities in 2005. Aircraft accidents include all aircraft that are used for business travel or for transporting work-related supplies. Highway crashes accounted for 30 percent of all occupational fatalities in 2006, compared with 28 percent in 2005. A total of five workers were struck by vehicles while at work.
  2. The second leading cause of occupational deaths in the state was assaults and violent acts, which resulted in 30 deaths compared to eight deaths in 2005.
  3. Contact with objects and equipment occurring at work was the third leading cause of worker deaths in 2006 and resulted in 23 deaths. Thirteen workers were struck by an object, four were caught in or compressed by equipment or objects, and four were caught in or crushed in collapsing materials.

Work-related fatalities by worker characteristics

  • Men accounted for 123 of the 137 worker deaths in 2006.

  • By race/ethnicity, 109 deaths were white non-Hispanic workers, 18 were Hispanic workers, eight were black workers, and the remainder were American Indians, Alaska natives, Asians, native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders.
  • Workers in the 45- to 54-year-old age group had the highest number of fatalities, with 34 deaths.

Work-related fatalities by industry

  •  The construction industry had the highest number of deaths at 26.

  •  The transportation and warehousing industry had 19 deaths.

  •  The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry had 18 deaths.

Work-related fatalities by occupation

  • Transportation and material-moving occupations, including air, rail, water and highway transportation, as well as couriers and warehousing and storage, had the highest number of deaths, with a total of 34.

  •  Twenty-three deaths were in construction and extraction occupations, such as construction and engineering projects and preparation of sites for new construction.

  •  Twenty fatal injuries occurred to persons working in management occupations.

The Colorado Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries is a cooperative effort of the Department of Public Health and Environment’s Health Statistics Section and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which recently released its 2006 National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

For additional information about work-related injury deaths in Colorado and the nation, visit the Colorado Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Web site at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hs/cfoi/colorado.html.

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