According to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, there were 4,679 fatal work injuries in 2014. This might make workers in North Carolina wonder what jobs had the highest number of fatal injuries and injury rates.
In the private sector, there were 4,251 fatal injuries recorded for 2014, a 4 percent increase over the 4.101 recorded in 2013. The jobs with the highest number of fatal injuries were in the transportation and material-moving occupational group, for which there were 1,289 incidents. The second-highest number was 885 fatal injuries among construction and extraction jobs, and the third-highest number of deaths was 584 among service jobs.
However, these jobs are not considered the deadliest because they have some of the lowest rates of fatal injury. With a rate of 109.5 full-time equivalent workers per 100,000, logging was the deadliest occupation nationwide in 2014. The second-deadliest job was fishing with a rate of 80.8 FTE workers per 100,000, and flight engineers and pilots were the third-deadliest occupation with a rate of 63.2 FTE workers per 100,000.
Additionally, the CFOI indicates that there was a 12 percent decline in fatal injuries among government workers in 2014 compared to 2013. However, fatal injury cases increased 10 percent for self-employed workers and 17 percent for police supervisors and officers. There was also a 9 percent rise in fatal injuries among workers aged 55 and older and a 13 percent rise in the number of women who suffered fatal injuries at work.
For North Carolina, the preliminary data from the CFOI shows that there were 128 fatal work injuries in 2014, an increase over 2013 numbers. Family members of a person who is killed in an on-the-job accident may find it advisable to meet with an attorney to see if workers’ compensation death benefits may be available to cover some of their financial losses,