Workplace fatalities in California remain stable
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The number of Californians who died on the job stayed the same in 2017 as in the previous year, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There were 376 fatal injuries on the job in California in 2017 and 2016, compared with 388 in 2015, 344 in 2014, and 396 in 2013, according to the new data.
California’s workplace fatality rate remained stable at 2.2 per 100,000 workers in 2017, with slight fluctuations over the past eight years. On the national level, the rate of fatalities decreased from 3.6 to 3.5 per 100,000 workers, according to a statement.
Key findings from the latest census in California include:
- More than one in five (22%) of all California workplace deaths in 2017 were attributed to trips, slips and falls, with 88% of those deaths involving falls to a lower level.
- Assaults and violent acts in the workplace accounted for one out of every five (20%) workplace deaths in the state in 2017.
- Nearly two of every five (37%) California workplace deaths identified in 2017 occurred in transportation-related incidents.
“The percentage of Latino deaths in the workplace continues to be an area the department is monitoring,” the department wrote in the statement. “DIR remains committed to its workplace safety outreach and education efforts with a focus on high-hazard work, especially for monolingual Spanish-speaking workers.”
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