Occupational electrical injuries in the United States, 1992–1998, and recommendations for safety research

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Abstract

Problem: CFOI and SOII data show that 2,287 U.S. workers died and 32,807 workers sustained days away from work due to electrical shock or electrical burn injuries between 1992 and 1998. Method: The narrative, work activity, job title, source of injury, location, and industry for each fatal electrical accident were examined. A primary causal factor was identified for each fatality. Results: Electrical fatalities were categorized into five major groups. Overall, 44% of electrical fatalities occurred in the construction industry. Contact with overhead power lines caused 41% of all electrical fatalities. Discussion: Electrical shock caused 99% of fatal and 62% of nonfatal electrical accidents. Comprising about 7% of the U.S. workforce, construction workers sustain 44% of electrical fatalities. Power line contact by mobile equipment occurs in many industries and should be the subject of focused research. Other problem areas are identified and opportunities for research are proposed. Impact on Industry: Improvements in electrical safety in one industry often have application in other industries.

Introduction

On-the-job accidents in the United States are a serious occupational problem. No one expects to be injured, much less killed on the job. Yet each calendar day on average in the United States, more than 15,000 workers sustain on-the-job injuries or illnesses and 17 are killed. Electrical incidents cause an average of 13 days away from work injuries1 and nearly one fatality every day.

The U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) from death certificates and other information for U.S. workers killed on the job.2 The 1992–1998 CFOI database contains information on 43,921 occupational fatalities from all injury-related causes.3 Such information includes incident narratives, the source of injury, victim's occupation, location of the incident, work activity at the time of death, and other details. By analyzing such objective information, a reasonable understanding of most incidents can be achieved. Analogous to CFOI, BLS's Survey of Occupational Illnesses and Injuries (SOII) provides an estimate of the more than five million nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses that occur in the United States each year. A statistical estimate based on a stratified sample,4 the SOII does not contain narrative or work activity information on individual nonfatal incidents. Recent upgrades to the BLS's online search capability for both CFOI and SOII allow improved limited public access to selected U.S. occupational injury and illness information.5 The SOII information presented in this paper was obtained from this publicly available source. The CFOI information was obtained from direct access to the CFOI database through special arrangement between the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and BLS. The combination of CFOI and SOII data can provide a useful glimpse into the details of occupational electrical injury in the United States.

Occupational incidents often involve several events that cascade into a fatality. Consider the case where a worker is nonfatally shocked, causing a fall with a resulting fatal head injury. As a result, BLS established rules for selecting how occupational injuries and illness are classified, which are detailed in the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) Manual.6 In general, a case is coded according to the most serious nature of injury. As an example, a case in which electric shock causes a worker to fall and suffer a fatal head injury is coded as: nature=intracranial injury; part=brain; source=floor; event=fall; secondary source=electric wire or apparatus that caused the electric shock. In addition, the following events take precedence over other events or exposures: assaults and violent acts, transportation incidents, and fires and explosions. Event code counts have been used in this paper except where noted.

When event codes are used to select CFOI narratives, 2,267 electrical injuries can be isolated for the period from 1992 to 1998. When sorted by nature of injury codes 0930 (electrocution, electrical shock) and 0520 (electrical burns), 2,287 cases can be found. These additional electrical fatalities stem mainly from burns resulting from electrical explosions and electrocutions from an overhead power line after a vehicular incident. The SOII shows that private industry recorded 32,309 nonfatal electrical injuries by event code and 32,807 by nature of injury codes 0930 (electrocution, electrical shock) and 0520 (electrical burns). An analysis of electrical injuries by either event or nature of injury data does not produce significantly different results.

Two previous studies Cawley, 2001, Homce et al., 2001 of fatal and nonfatal electrical incidents in the mining industry using data from the U.S. Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) showed that both fatal and nonfatal occupational incidents must be studied to obtain an accurate picture of the circumstances that surround mine electrical incidents.

Similarly, CFOI data show that 98.5% of the 2,287 occupational electrical fatalities selected by nature of injury code that occurred between 1992 and 1998 were attributed to electrocution, electric shock. However, 62% of an estimated 32,807 nonfatal occupational electrical injuries were classified as electrocution, electric shock and 38% as electrical burns. Fig. 1 shows that the ratio of nonfatal electrocution, electric shock to electrical burn injuries varies substantially among the nine industrial sectors tracked by BLS.

Thus, analysis based solely on fatal or nonfatal electrical incidents could lead to an inaccurate overall picture of the interventions needed to provide the greatest impact in a particular industry. Remediations that address electrical burns will have more impact on nonfatal injuries, while those that address electrical shock will primarily affect fatal injuries.

Section snippets

Background data

The top 10 CFOI event code categories for occupational fatalities from all causes from 1992 to 1998 are shown in descending order in Table 1. Fatal incidents involving electricity rank sixth among all causes of occupational fatality in the United States, totaling 2,267 (5.2%) during the study period. The number of fatal electrical incidents by CFOI event code is shown in Table 2. The event code with the most fatalities is code 3130, contact with overhead power lines, with 933 fatal cases.

CFOI narrative analysis

The objective of analyzing occupational electrical incidents is to identify problem areas and to develop strategies and techniques to reduce their frequency and severity. Many aspects of the circumstances surrounding fatal incidents are available directly from the CFOI database, such as victim, location, and activity information. It is useful, however, to attribute a primary “cause” to each incident. This is feasible for fatal electrical incidents because CFOI supplies a brief narrative

Prior NIOSH research that addressed electrical hazards

NIOSH Alerts briefly present information about occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths. Alerts urgently request assistance in preventing, solving, and controlling newly identified occupational hazards. Alerts ask workers, employers, and safety and health professionals to take immediate action to reduce risks and implement controls.

A number of NIOSH Alerts have studied various electrical problem areas U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1984, U.S. Department of Health and Human

Mine electrical safety research by the U.S. Bureau of Mines

The U.S. Bureau of Mines began an extensive mine electrical safety research program in response to the 1969 Coal Mine Safety and Health Act. A wide variety of electrical safety topics were addressed that were relevant not only to mining, but other industries as well. The bureau emphasized an engineering approach to electrical safety problems, working to produce, test, and document a wide variety of practical solutions for identified mine electrical hazards. Electrical system studies, trailing

Research opportunities

As the analysis in this study revealed, occupational electrical injuries occur in many industries, under widely varying circumstances, and involve nearly all occupations. This suggests that research directed toward reducing electrical injuries should include an equally diverse array of complimentary intervention concepts, each targeting a well-defined aspect of the problem, suitable for practical applications, and with potential for measurable success. Ideally, efforts should focus on the most

Summary

This report has presented the results of an analysis of CFOI and SOII data revealing that electricity is a serious occupational injury problem. Noteworthy among the findings is that although electrical shocks and burns do not occur as frequently as many other types of occupational injuries, they are disproportionately fatal. Analysis also concluded that the causes of most fatal electrical incidents fall into one of five categories: (a) installation and maintenance not involving power lines; (b)

Notes

NIOSH Alerts are available via the Internet at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/alerts2.html or by contacting: National Institute for Occupational Safety and health, Publications Dissemination, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226-1998, USA. Tel.: 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674); fax: +1-513-533-8573. E-mail: [email protected].

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Janice Windau, Epidemiologist, and William McCarthy, Supervisory Statistician, and their respective staffs for their assistance in providing and helping to interpret CFOI and SOII data, respectively. Both are with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC. Without their efforts, this work would not have been possible.

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