Kansas Workplace Fatalities Decrease for 2015

Topeka, KS (WorkersCompensation.com) - Kansas had 60 fatal work-related injuries in 2015 compared to 73 recorded in 2014, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The CFOI program is a national census conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in partnership with the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL), Division of Industrial Safety and Health.  Transportation incidents in Kansas accounted for 61.7 percent of the fatal work-related injuries in 2015 with 37 fatalities. Of the 37 transportation-related fatal injuries, 25 fatalities or 67.6 percent were roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles. Non-roadway incidents, such as a tractor overturned in a farm field, accounted for another seven fatalities or 18.9 percent of the transportation-related fatal injuries.  In the nation, transportation incidents were also the most frequent fatal work-related injuries in 2015, accounting for 42.5 percent of all fatal work-related injuries. However, Kansas’ 61.7 percent share of fatal work-related injuries in this industry was larger than the nationwide share.  Men accounted for 56 or 93.3 percent of the fatal work-related injuries that occurred in 2015. Nationwide men accounted for 92.9 percent of fatal work-related injuries.  In 2015, workers aged 45-54 accounted for 20 of the fatal work-related injuries, another 13 fatalities were in the workers aged 55-64 category, followed by 11 fatalities in the 65 years and over age group.  In 2015, 39 fatal work-related injuries occurred in the wage and salary workers category while 21 fatalities were self-employed workers.  March had the highest number of fatal work-related injuries with eight fatalities or 13.3 percent of the 60 fatalities.

The CFOI program collects data from multiple sources for every fatal work-related injury recorded. Each case must have two or more substantiating documents. These source documents include death certificates, workers compensation reports, motor vehicle accident reports, OSHA reports, news accounts, coroner’s reports, obituaries, employer questionnaires and other federal and state records. Each fatality is counted in the state where the incident occurs regardless of the state of employment. This ensures there is no duplication of reporting by the states.  

For more information regarding this survey, please visit the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm.  Additionally, charts and tables for Kansas may be viewed on the KDOL website at https://klic.dol.ks.gov/gsipub/index.asp?docid=598.

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