Top Causes Of Workplace Death

November 14, 2012 No Comments

The Insurance Information Institute has published an interesting table at the bottom of this page that shows 2009/2010 U.S. workplace deaths by cause.  Some of you may be surprised by the results!

The top two causes accounted for 57% of all work related fatalities!  They are vehicle accidents (39%) and assaults/violence/homicides (18%).  If you have drivers at your company (even casual drivers like sales persons) you should have a comprehensive drivers safety program in place to protect these workers.

The third and forth leading causes were contact with equipment (16%) and falls (14%).

These four causes of fatal accidents accounted for 87% of all fatal accidents in 2009 and 2010.  Of course these percentages will vary by type of industry and location.  However, anyone interested in preventing serious on-the-job injuries would do well to evaluate the following exposures at their company:

• Driving (including occasional driving)
• Assault/violence/homicide (especially armed robbery)
• Contact with equipment (e.g. guarding, electrical, lockout tagout,crushed by)
• Falls (primarily falls from elevation)

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