The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) reports the number of Californians who died on the job increased slightly in 2013. A review of the past ten years indicates that workplace fatalities remain below the average rate of fatalities prior to 2008, when the last recession began. The uptick corresponds to California’s higher employment rates and its broad-based economic recovery.

“DIR considers that all worker deaths should be preventable, and this data is a clear reminder that we still have some work to do in the area of prevention,” said DIR Director Christine Baker. “Even one workplace death is too many.”

There were 396 fatal injuries on the job in California last year, compared to 375 in 2012. Data comes from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) which is conducted annually in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

A comparison of the 2013 final statistics with the previous year’s final data indicates the following differences:

1) There were increases in fatalities across most industrial sectors between 2012 and 2013. The largest increases were in administrative and waste services which includes landscaping (from 28 to 44 cases or 57%), manufacturing (from 28 to 35 cases or 25%) and transportation and warehousing (from 61 to 66 or 8%). There were smaller increases in government (43 to 46 cases or 7%), construction (from 58 to 61 fatalities, up 5%), retail trade (from 24 to 27 cases, an increase of 13%), and agriculture and forestry (from 29 to 30 cases, an increase of 3%).
2) In comparing the cause of the fatality between the past two years, there was a 70% increase in fatalities from harmful substances (from 23 to 39 cases) while falls increased 7%, from 60 to 64 cases. The number of fatalities from violence or assaults stayed constant at 80 deaths each year.
3) There were both increases and decreases in fatalities for workers in disparate age ranges, with the largest percentage increase in the 35-44 age range, and the largest percentage decrease in workers 20-24.
4) Final data for 2013 indicates a significant increase in Hispanic or Latino worker fatalities (from 137 to 194 or 42%). Fatalities among Hispanic workers rose from 37% to 49% of the statewide total between 2012 and 2013. A detailed report on Hispanic fatalities based on the preliminary 2013 CFOI statistics is posted online.

The year-to-year increase in the rate of workplace fatalities for Latinos (from 2.3 per 100,000 workers in 2012 to 3.2 per 100,000 workers in 2013) is an area of particular concern to the department. DIR over the past five years has increased workplace safety outreach and education to Spanish-speaking workers. “We will continue to focus on outreach and training for Latino workers as well as other workers with limited English proficiency, with a focus on high-hazard work.” added Director Christine Baker.