Workplace fatalities at seven-year high

Despite a surge in OSHA enforcement in recent years, workplace fatalities in 2015 hit their highest level since 2008, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.

The total of 4,836 fatal work injuries in 2015 was up slightly from the 4,821 reported in 2014. In 2008, the number was 5,214, the bureau’s Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries said.

Some highlights from the report:

•    The private construction industry recorded 937 fatal work injuries in 2015, the highest since 975 in 2008.
•    Deaths from roadway incidents accounted for one-quarter of the fatalities, up 9% from 2014 totals.
•    There were 745 fatal injuries to heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, the most of any occupation.
•    Fatalities in the private oil and gas extraction industries were 38% lower in 2015 than 2014.
•    There were 903 fatal injuries among Hispanic or Latino workers in 2015, the most since 937 in 2007.
•    Fatal injuries among workers age 65 years and older numbered 650, the second-largest for that age range since figures began to be tallied in 1992, but down from 684 in 2014.
•    Workplace suicides decreased 18% from 2014, while homicides were up 2%.