Further significant preliminary findings from the 2013 CFOI data include a six-percent decrease in fatal work injuries in private industry, an eight percent increase in work-related suicides, a 16 percent decrease in workplace homicides, and a 16 percent decrease in fatal work injuries among self-employed workers. Workers who were working as contractors at the time of their fatal injury accounted for 17 percent of the total number of fatal work incidents in 2013. In addition, work-related deaths among firefighters nearly tripled from 2012 to 2013; BLS attributes this sharp increase to a few major incidents in which multiple fatalities were recorded, including the Yarnell Hill wildfires in Arizona.

BLS released its findings on Sept. 11, the same day that OSHA released a final rule introducing new requirements for reporting severe injuries.

“These new requirements will help OSHA focus its resources and hold employers accountable for preventing” workplace injuries and fatalities, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez.

Final CFOI data for 2013 will be published in spring 2015. View all preliminary CFOI data at http://bit.ly/cfoi2013.