NIOSH Fatal Occupational Injury Cost Fact Sheet: Utilities (NAICS 22)
March, 2012
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 2012-136
Related Publications:
Air Transportation | Couriers/Messengers | Transit/Ground Transportation | Truck Transportation | TWU | Warehousing/Storage | Water Transportation
Number, Rate, and Costs of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the U.S. Utilities Industry by Selected Characteristics, 2003–2006.
Costs (2006 Dollars) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristic | Number of Fatalities | Fatality Rate (per 100,000 workers) | Mean (thousands) | Median (thousands) | Total(millions) | |
All U.S. Industries | 22,197 | 3.9 | $960 | $944 | $21,316 | |
All Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities | 3,704 | 12.9 | 944 | 974 | 3,496 | |
All Utilities | 225 | 4.8 | 1,250 | 1,290 | 281 | |
Year | ||||||
2003 | 42 | 3.5 | 1,141 | 1,153 | 48 | |
2004 | 64 | 5.5 | 1,300 | 1,296 | 83 | |
2005 | 46 | 3.9 | 1,228 | 1,302 | 57 | |
2006 | 73 | 6.2 | 1,283 | 1,313 | 94 | |
Sex | ||||||
Male | 219 | 6.0 | 1,239 | 1,285 | 271 | |
Female | 6 | 0.6 | 1,639 | 1,557 | 10 | |
Age Group | ||||||
16-24 | 11 | 5.1 | 1,214 | 1,280 | 13 | |
25-34 | 35 | 4.8 | 1,575 | 1,611 | 55 | |
35-44 | 56 | 4.2 | 1,510 | 1,542 | 85 | |
45-54 | 77 | 4.5 | 1,314 | 1,298 | 101 | |
55-64 | 38 | 5.7 | 690 | 653 | 26 | |
65+ | 8 | 9.4 | 93 | 75 | 1 | |
Race | ||||||
White | 199 | 4.9 | 1,258 | 1,300 | 250 | |
Black | 16 | 3.3 | 1,107 | 1,193 | 18 | |
Other1 | 10 | 5.1 | 1,319 | 1,215 | 13 | |
Ethnicity2 | ||||||
Not Hispanic | 214 | 4.9 | 1,254 | 1,296 | 268 | |
Hispanic | — | — | — | — | — | |
Selected SOC Occupation Group | ||||||
Architecture and Engineering | 11 | 3.1 | 1,431 | 1,570 | 16 | |
Construction and Extraction | 33 | 7.8 | 1,085 | 1,192 | 36 | |
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 107 | 14.3 | 1,317 | 1,411 | 141 | |
Management | 9 | 1.7 | 2,256 | 2,218 | 20 | |
Production | 35 | 4.2 | 1,088 | 1,131 | 38 | |
Transportation and Material Moving | 18 | 9.7 | 830 | 733 | 15 | |
Selected Event or Exposure | ||||||
02 | Struck by object | 14 | 0.3 | 1,013 | 896 | 14 |
03 | Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects | 5 | 0.1 | 1,045 | 1,012 | 5 |
11 | Fall to lower level | 31 | 0.7 | 1,168 | 1,222 | 36 |
31 | Contact with electric current | 56 | 1.2 | 1,413 | 1,444 | 79 |
38 | Oxygen deficiency, n.e.c. | 6 | 0.1 | 1,010 | 980 | 6 |
41 | Highway accident | 45 | 1.0 | 1,245 | 1,196 | 56 |
43 | Pedestrian, non-passenger struck by vehicle, mobile equipment | 13 | 0.3 | 1,061 | 1,111 | 14 |
46 | Aircraft accident | 5 | 0.1 | 1,551 | 1,679 | 8 |
51 | Fire–unintended or uncontrolled | 6 | 0.1 | 1,187 | 1,439 | 7 |
52 | Explosion | 13 | 0.3 | 1,228 | 1,333 | 16 |
Selected Source of Injury | ||||||
1* | Containers | 8 | 0.2 | 996 | 1,154 | 8 |
34 | Material handling machinery | 9 | 0.2 | 1,022 | 816 | 9 |
42 | Fasteners, connectors, ropes, ties | 8 | 0.2 | 1,356 | 1,417 | 11 |
44 | Machine, tool, and electric parts | 45 | 1.0 | 1,427 | 1,463 | 64 |
5* | Persons, plants, animals, and minerals | 6 | 0.1 | 1,401 | 1,326 | 8 |
62 | Floors, walkways, ground surfaces | 34 | 0.7 | 1,123 | 1,197 | 38 |
64 | Structures | 8 | 0.2 | 1,134 | 896 | 9 |
81 | Air vehicle | 5 | 0.1 | 1,551 | 1,679 | 8 |
82 | Highway vehicle, motorized | 64 | 1.4 | 1,215 | 1,173 | 78 |
91 | Ammunition | 6 | 0.1 | 1,582 | 1,436 | 9 |
93 | Atmospheric and environmental conditions | 6 | 0.1 | 1,187 | 1,439 | 7 |
NOTE: Dashes indicate data that do not meet publication criteria.
Asterisks denote a summary level code not assigned to individual cases.
1This category includes all other races, such as American Indian and Asian, as well as unknown or missing races.
2Numbers are not reported for “unknown”, “not classified” or “not reported” categories.
Fatal Occupational Injury Cost Model
Theoretical Basis of Cost Estimation
The cost to society of a workplace fatality was estimated using the cost-of-illness approach, which combines direct and indirect costs to yield an overall cost of an occupational fatal injury. For these calculations, only medical expenses were used to estimate the direct cost associated with the fatality. The indirect cost was derived by calculating the present value of future earnings summed from the year of death until the decedent would have reached age 67, accounting for the probability of survival were it not for the premature death. (For more information, see Biddle, E [2004]. Economic Cost of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the United States, 1980–1997. Contemporary Economic Policy 22(3):370–381 or Biddle, E [2009]. The Cost of Fatal Injuries to Civilian Workers in the US, 1992-2001and Biddle E and Keane P [2011]. The Economic Burden of Occupational Injuries to Civilian Workers in the United States, 1992-2002. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS.)
Mathematical Representation of Indirect Costs
where:
Variable | Definition |
---|---|
PVF | = present discounted value of loss per person due to an individual occupational fatal injury |
Py,q,s (n) | = probability that a person of age y, race q, and sex s will survive to age n |
q | = race of the individual |
s | = sex of the individual |
n | = age if the individual had survived |
Ys, j(n) | = median annual compensation of an employed person of sex s, specific occupation j, and age n (includes median annual earnings, benefits, and wage growth adjustments) |
j | = specific occupation of individual at death |
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= mean annual imputed value of household production (h) of a person of sex s and age n |
g | = earnings growth rate attributable to overall productivity |
y | = age of the individual at death |
r | = real discount rate (3%) |
Data Sources
Fatality data: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI)External
Probability of survival: National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics.
Median annual earnings: BLS Occupational Employment Statistics SurveyExternal
Benefits: BLS Employer Cost for Employee BenefitsExternal
Mean annual home production: Expectancy DataExternal
Earnings growth rate: BLS Employment Compensation Index (ECI)External
Medical costs: National Council on Compensation InsuranceExternal
Employment estimates for rate calculations: BLS Current Population SurveyExternal
Fatality Rate Calculations
Fatality rates were calculated by NIOSH and may differ from previously published BLS CFOI rates. Fatality rates were calculated as deaths per 100,000 workers. Fatality rates for sex, race, age group, and occupation were calculated using employment estimates by the individual characteristic within the specific industry. Employment estimates for the specific industry were used to generate rates for event and source.
Classification Systems
NIOSH Fatal Occupational Injury Cost Fact Sheet: Utilities (NAICS 22) Cdc-pdf