September 5, 2008—A preliminary total of 5,488 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2007, a decrease of 6 percent from the revised total of 5,840 fatal work injuries reported for 2006, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Based on these counts, the rate of fatal injury for US employees last year was 3.7 fatal work injuries per 100,000 employees, down from the final rate of 4.0 recorded for 2006, and the lowest annual fatality rate ever reported by the BLS fatality census.
“We are pleased to see both the number and rate of fatal work injuries continue to decline,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. “These numbers show that OSHA’s balanced approach to improving safety is working. However, we will continue to work to eliminate all fatalities since one fatality is one fatality too many.”
The final results for 2007 will be released in April 2009. For more information, see the BLS Web site.
