NIOSH Fatal Occupational Injury Cost Fact Sheet: Air Transportation (NAICS 481)

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Number, Rate, and Costs of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the U.S. Air Transportation Industry by Selected Characteristics, 2003–2006.

				Costs (2006 Dollars)
Characteristic		Number of Fatalities	Fatality Rate (per 100,000 workers)	Mean (thousands)	Median (thousands)	Total(millions)
All U.S. Industries		22,197	3.9	$960	$944	$21,316
All Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities		3,704	12.9	944	974	3,496
All Air Transportation		179	7.7	1,397	1,242	250
Year
	2003	53	8.4	1,390	1,181	74
	2004	47	8.2	1,471	1,411	69
	2005	28	4.9	1,519	1,480	43
	2006	51	9.5	1,269	1,094	65
Sex
	Male	170	11.9	1,364	1,241	232
	Female	9	1.0	2,022	2,180	18
Age Group
	16-24	8	5.5	1,879	1,577	15
	25-34	40	8.7	1,902	1,623	76
	35-44	42	5.7	1,780	1,583	75
	45-54	38	5.8	1,350	1,340	51
	55-64	40	13.6	784	757	31
	65+	11	39.6	141	112	2
Race
	White	165	9.0	1,396	1,242	230
	Black	6	2.3	1,192	1,104	7
	Other1	8	3.8	1,566	1,497	13
Ethnicity2
	Not Hispanic	166	8.0	1,375	1,239	228
	Hispanic	11	4.6	1,618	1,394	18
Selected SOC Occupation Group
Construction and Extraction		--	--	--	--	--
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair		--	--	--	--	--
Management		--	--	--	--	--
Office and Administrative Support		--	--	--	--	--
Personal Care and Service		5	1.0	1,180	869	6
Production		--	--	--	--	--
Transportation and Material Moving		165	30.0	1,420	1,275	234
Selected Event or Exposure
46	Aircraft accident	161	7.0	1,434	1,329	231
Selected Source of Injury
81	Air vehicle	161	7.0	1,434	1,329	231

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NOTE: Dashes indicate data that do not meet publication criteria.

¹This category includes all other races, such as American Indian and Asian, as well as unknown or missing races.

²Numbers are not reported for “unknown”, “not classified” or “not reported” categories.

Fatal Occupational Injury Cost Model

Theoretical Basis of Cost Estimation

The cost to society of a workplace fatality was estimated using the cost-of-illness approach, which combines direct and indirect costs to yield an overall cost of an occupational fatal injury. For these calculations, only medical expenses were used to estimate the direct cost associated with the fatality. The indirect cost was derived by calculating the present value of future earnings summed from the year of death until the decedent would have reached age 67, accounting for the probability of survival were it not for the premature death. (For more information, see Biddle, E [2004]. Economic Cost of Fatal Occupational Injuries in the United States, 1980–1997. Contemporary Economic Policy 22(3):370–381 or Biddle, E [2009]. The Cost of Fatal Injuries to Civilian Workers in the US, 1992-2001and Biddle E and Keane P [2011]. The Economic Burden of Occupational Injuries to Civilian Workers in the United States, 1992-2002. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS.)

Mathematical Representation of Indirect Costs

where:

Variable	Definition
PVF	= present discounted value of loss per person due to an individual occupational fatal injury
Py,q,s (n)	= probability that a person of age y, race q, and sex s will survive to age n
q	= race of the individual
s	= sex of the individual
n	= age if the individual had survived
Ys, j(n)	= median annual compensation of an employed person of sex s, specific occupation j, and age n (includes median annual earnings, benefits, and wage growth adjustments)
j	= specific occupation of individual at death
	= mean annual imputed value of household production (h) of a person of sex s and age n
g	= earnings growth rate attributable to overall productivity
y	= age of the individual at death
r	= real discount rate (3%)

Data Sources

Fatality data: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). This research was conducted with restricted access to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. These data exclude military personnel, decedents with unknown age or sex, and fatalities occurring in New York City. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the BLS.

Probability of survival: National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Vital Statistics.

Median annual earnings: BLS Occupational Employment Statistics Survey. Wage data are based on the occupation of the decedent and the year and State of death adjusted by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Deflator to the base year of dollar. The wage growth adjustment, which is the rate of change in wages between age groups, was calculated by NIOSH using BLS Current Population Survey data.

Benefits: BLS Employer Cost for Employee Benefits. Benefits data are based on the year of death adjusted by the GDP Deflator.

Mean annual home production: Expectancy Data. Data are derived through a time diary study sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and conducted by the University of Maryland.

Earnings growth rate: BLS Employment Compensation Index (ECI).

Medical costs: National Council on Compensation Insurance. This is a single 4-year average medical cost.

Employment estimates for rate calculations: BLS Current Population Survey.

Fatality Rate Calculations

Fatality rates were calculated by NIOSH and may differ from previously published BLS CFOI rates. Fatality rates were calculated as deaths per 100,000 workers. Fatality rates for sex, race, age group, and occupation were calculated using employment estimates by the individual characteristic within the specific industry. Employment estimates for the specific industry were used to generate rates for event and source.

Classification Systems

Industry:	2002 National Industry Classification System (NAICS)
Occupation:	2000 Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC)
Event:	1992 BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS)

NIOSH Fatal Occupational Injury Cost Fact Sheet: Air Transportation (NAICS 481) [PDF - 317 KB]