Fatal Work Injuries in Hawaii – 2014

News Release from BLS, January, 2016

Fatal work injuries totaled 31 in 2014 for Hawaii, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Richard J. Holden noted that while the 2014 count was preliminary, the number of work-related fatalities in Hawaii reached its highest level since the series began. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from the high of 31 in 2014 to a low of 11 in 2013. (See chart 1.)

Nationwide, a preliminary total of 4,679 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2014, up from a revised count of 4,585 fatalities in 2014, according to results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. Final 2014 CFOI data will be released in the late spring of 2016.

Of the 31 fatal work injuries reported in Hawaii in 2014, 14 resulted from transportation incidents and 7 from falls, slips, or trips. Together these two major categories accounted for over one-half of all fatal work injuries reported in the state. (See table 1.) Among transportation workplace fatalities, six occurred from nonroadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles. In the falls, slips, or trips major category, six deaths resulted from falls to a lower level. These two categories accounted for nearly 40 percent of all on-the-job fatalities in the state. Other major event categories each reported four or fewer deaths.

In the United States, transportation incidents were also the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2014, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. In Hawaii, transportation incidents accounted for 45 percent of the state’s share of fatalities. (See chart 2.) Falls, slips, or trips was the second most frequent type of event nationally, with 17 percent of work-related fatalities; the share in Hawaii was 23 percent. Contact with objects or equipment and violence and other injuries by persons or animals each accounted for around 16 percent of the nation’s workplace fatalities, while in the state, these events were responsible for 10 and 13 percent of workplace fatalities, respectively.

Additional highlights:

• The construction industry had the largest number of fatalities in the state with nine, compared to three the previous year. Falls, slips, or trips accounted for about one-half of the fatal work injuries in this industry. (See table 2.)
• Government had the second highest fatality count with five, little changed from the previous year. Construction and extraction occupations had the highest number of fatal work injuries with eight. Construction laborers suffered one-half of the fatalities within this occupation. (See table 3.)
• Men accounted for 26, or 84 percent, of the work-related fatalities in the state. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 42 percent of these fatalities.
• In Hawaii, 26 percent of those who died from a workplace injury were Asian, non-Hispanic. Nationwide, this group accounted for 3 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old—the prime working age group—accounted for 20, or 65 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2014. Nationally, workers in this group accounted for 58 percent of on-the-job fatalities.
• Of the 31 fatal work injuries in Hawaii, 81 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. For both wage and salary and the self-employed the most frequent fatal even was transportation incidents, with 10 and 4 fatalities, respectively.

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SA: On-the-job fatalities in Hawaii shot up during 2014, feds find