Largest increase in fatal work injuries involved drivers of heavy trucks, says DOL update

“The total for this occupation rose from 577 cases to 610 after updates were added, an increase of 6 percent,” DOL noted in a news release.

The Trucker News Services

9/13/2012

The largest increase in fatal work injuries among occupations involved drivers of tractor-trailers “or other heavy trucks,” according to updated statistics released Sept. 12 by the U.S. Labor Department.

“The total for this occupation rose from 577 cases to 610 after updates were added, an increase of 6 percent,” DOL noted in a news release.

The updates were made to the 2010 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) counts.

Highway incidents were higher by 76 cases or up 8 per cent from the preliminary count, bringing the total number of fatal work-related highway incidents in 2010 to 1,044.

In somewhat of a silver lining, the final 2010 highway incident count was 6 percent higher than the final number in 2009, but was still the second lowest annual total ever reported by the program.

Fatal falls were listed at 635, then updated to 646, while “transportation and warehousing” related fatalities were listed at 631, then updated to 661.

Overall, 30 states revised their counts upward as a result of the updating process, DOL reported.

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