According to preliminary statistics recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 17 percent of all workplace fatalities in 2011 were the result of workplace violence.
The 2011 Census of Fatal Occupation Injuries (CFOI) found that there were 4,609 fatal working injuries in the U.S. in 2011, of which 780 were attributed to a result of "violence and other injuries by persons or animals." Of the 780 fatal work injuries that were the cause of violence, 458 were homicides and 242 were suicides.
Among some of the report’s other findings include:
- Shootings were the most frequent manner of death in both homicides (78 percent) and suicides (45 percent)
- Men made up the majority of fatal workplace injuries attributed to violence (680) compared to women (100). Homicides accounted for 21 percent of fatal workplace injuries to women. Nearly two out of every five homicides to female workers involved relatives with almost all being spouses or domestic partners (current and former). Homicides accounted for nine percent of all fatal injuries to male workers; however, relatives were the assailants in only about two percent of these incidents.
- The jobs that saw the highest numbers of workplace homicides included sales and related occupations such as first-line supervisors of sales and retail workers and cashiers (102), law enforcement workers such as police and corrections officers (67), management occupations (60), and protective service workers such as security guards (38).
Overall, however, fatal work injuries have decreased by 21 percent since 2006 and by more than 25 percent since 1992.
For more information about the 2011 CFOI, visit http://stats.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm#2011.
