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2017 Workplace Fatality Statistics Released

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2017, a total of 5,147 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States. And while this data marks 43 fewer casualties than in 2016, employers should note that it is still an increase of more than 300 in both 2014 and 2015.

The continued high rate was fueled by the frequency of transportation incidents (2,077) and 887 fatal falls, which marked their highest level in the 26-year history of the census.

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Another key finding involved overdoses of drugs and alcohol while at work.

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Unintentional overdoses due to nonmedical substances while at work increased 25% from 217 in 2016 to 272 in 2017. The BLS noted that this was the fifth straight year in which unintentional workplace overdose deaths have increased by at least 25%.

The National Safety Council (NSC) released a statement in reaction to the BLS data, saying that it was “disheartened to see a small rise in unintentional, preventable worker fatalities.” The NSC’s statement continued:

“Once again, the data clearly show we are not doing enough to mitigate the risks of these everyday killers. At work, leadership should set the tone and engage all employees in safety, identifying hazards and measuring safety performance using leading indicators to ensure continuous improvement.”

Additionally, the BLS found:

  • Contact with objects and equipment incidents were down 9 percent (695 in 2017 from 761 in 2016) with caught in running equipment or machinery deaths down 26 percent (76 in 2017 from 103 in 2016).
  • Fatal occupational injuries involving confined spaces rose 15 percent to 166 in 2017 from 144 in 2016.
  • Crane-related workplace fatalities fell to their lowest level ever recorded in by the census, 33 deaths in 2017.

Clearly, the fatality rate of some occupations remains alarmingly high. Below are the 10 most dangerous jobs in America for 2017, according to the BLS and the fatal work injury rate (per 100,000 workers).

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Risk Management’s Gender Pay Gap

Next month marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, which was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963. At the time, women earned about 59 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. To correct this disparity, the law made it illegal for employers to pay women lower wages than men for doing the same job.

Today, the gender pay gap has narrowed, but as we reported in the May issue of Risk Management, it still exists. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011, women were paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. While a 23% gain is certainly progress, there is still significant ground to be made up before full equality can be achieved.
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The pay gap is also evident in the risk management field. Data compiled for the 2013 RIMS Compensation Survey of risk management salaries revealed that, depending on the job title, female respondents took home base salaries that were up to 17% less than their male counterparts in the same position (see the chart below). The discrepancy was greatest with those who handle claims (claims managers and analysts), who made just over 17% less, while all other positions saw gaps of less than 10%.

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Risk management analysts saw only a 2% gap, while directors of business continuity, financial or IT risk management actually made 2.4% more than men.

What this data seems to suggest is that although women have become leaders in risk management and have long made gender irrelevant in terms of performance, their pay has not always followed suit.

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If there is a silver lining, though, it is that risk management salaries, for the most part, are more equitable than the national average. Perhaps as the discipline continues to become more prominent and gain greater recognition in corporate boardrooms, the profile of all risk managers will be enhanced and these pay differences will quickly disappear, making risk management an early leader when it comes to fulfilling President Kennedy’s 50-year-old promise of equal pay for equal work.

The 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America

The thought of death or injury on the job doesn’t usually cross the minds of many office-dwellers. We are the lucky ones. There are a slew of occupations that, without the help of any extraordinary circumstances, claim the lives of many workers each year.

Things have improved greatly over the past decades, however. In fact, since the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) began tracking fatal occupational injuries 19 years ago, 2009 was the safest year on record with 4,551 fatal work injuries. In good news, 2010 was similarly less deadly with 4,547 fatal work injuries. But the fatality rate of some occupations still remain alarmingly high. Below are the 10 most dangerous jobs in America according to the most recent (2010) figures from the BLS and the fatal work injury rate (per 100,000 workers).

  1. Fishermen (116.0) — In late June, two people died when a 20-foot fishing boat capsized near the top of Alaska’s panhandle. A third person was able to climb on top of the overturned skiff where he waited for rescue. As the BLS states, “this occupation is characterized by strenuous work, long hours, seasonal employment, and some of the most hazardous conditions in the workforce.”
  2. Logging workers (91.9) — This occupation repeatedly takes a spot in the top 10 as not only one of America’s, but the world’s, most dangerous jobs. In one recent example, 61-year-old John Hutt, a Colorado logger, cut off his toes after he became trapped under heavy logging equipment. He then drove himself to an area where there was enough cellphone reception to call an ambulance. In the logging industry, he is considered one of the lucky ones.
  3. Airplane pilots and flight engineers (70.6) — It may be hard to believe that working as a police officer is safer than flying a plane, but according to the BLS, this is true. The bureau states that there were 78 fatal work injuries for this industry in 2010.
  4. Farmers and ranchers (41.4) — In August, a 40-year-old Illinois farmer was crushed to death by his tractor after it fell into a hole on his farm, which he was filling with dirt. And just this month a woman was hit and run over by a skid loader on a farm in Wisconsin. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
  5. Mining machine operators (38.7) — The most infamous accident within this industry is undoubtedly the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in April of 2010, which claimed the lives of 29 out of the 31 miners on site. The accident was the worst in the United States since 1970, when 38 minters were killed at Finley Coal Company’s mines in Kentucky.
  6. Roofers (32.4) — Just three weeks ago, four roofers in San Francisco were seriously injured when the roof of a six-story apartment complex collapsed under them. And in April, a 56-year-old worker was re-securing metal roof panels on a building at Horenberger Field at Illinois Wesleyan University when he fell from scaffolding. He died in the hospital eight days later and one of the causes of his death was the disease attention-deficiency/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that he did not take the drug strattera and his employer, Union Roofing, was cited by OSHA for two safety violations.
  7. Sanitation workers (29.8) — A tragic accident occurred on Labor Day when a 17-year-old sanitation employee fell off of a moving garbage truck and was run over, killing him instantly.
  8. Truck drivers and delivery workers (21.8) — In March of last year, a commercial truck driver was using his cellphone to make a call when his truck crossed the median in central Kentucky, striking a van that was carrying 12 members of a family. 10 people in the van plus the truck driver were killed. Just this week, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, concluding its investigation of the crash, recommended banning the use of mobile phones by commercial drivers except in emergencies.
  9. Industrial machine workers (20.3) — The number of accidents in this field is staggering. In January 2010, a Florida man had his genitals severed off after an accident involving machinery at an Future Foam Carpet Cushion in Orlando. The company was was fined $42,500 by OSHA for 10 serious safety violations.
  10. Police officers (18.0) — In 2010, there was a nearly 40% increase in line-of-duty deaths among U.S. law enforcement. The most recent officer death involved Deputy Sheriff Derrick Whittle of the Union County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office. He was killed in an automobile accident while responding to a call on September 18th. He is the 48th law enforcement officer to be killed in a traffic-related incident in 2011.