Example 1
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Example #1: Find data on work-related MVC fatalities by industry using the first highlighted table, Table A-2.
| Industry1 | Total fatal injuries (number) | Transportation incidents2 | Homicides2 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle | Nonroadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles | Pedestrian vehicular incidents | Total | Shooting by other person-- intentional | ||||||||
|
Truck transportation |
503 |
390 |
331 |
4 |
48 |
3 |
3 |
||||||
|
General freight trucking |
309 |
247 |
210 |
-- |
33 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
General freight trucking, local |
69 |
50 |
43 |
-- |
7 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
General freight trucking, long-distance |
219 |
180 |
153 |
-- |
24 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
General freight trucking, long-distance, truckload |
139 |
114 |
95 |
-- |
17 |
1 |
1 |
||||||
|
General freight trucking, long-distance, less than truckload |
24 |
20 |
19 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
Specialized freight trucking |
189 |
140 |
119 |
3 |
14 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
Used household and office goods moving |
13 |
7 |
5 |
-- |
1 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local |
74 |
51 |
43 |
-- |
7 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, long-distance |
91 |
72 |
63 |
-- |
6 |
-- |
-- |
||||||
|
Transit and ground passenger transportation |
69 |
27 |
24 |
-- |
3 |
31 |
25 |
||||||
|
Taxi and limousine service |
56 |
19 |
17 |
-- |
-- |
31 |
25 |
||||||
|
Taxi service |
48 |
16 |
14 |
-- |
-- |
27 |
22 |
||||||
|
Limousine service |
4 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
1 |
1 |
||||||
|
School and employee bus transportation |
7 |
4 |
3 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
||||||
*The data shown above can be found on p. 17 of this table.
Here’s what you need to know:
To find out how many workers in each industry died in a motor vehicle crash, you’ll want to look at the following columns:
- Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle: BLS defines these as “injuries to vehicle occupants occurring on that part of the public highway, street, or road normally used for travel as well as the shoulder and surrounding areas, telephone poles, bridge abutments, trees aligning roadway, etc.”
- Nonroadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle: This group “includes only those instances that occur entirely off of a public roadway, such as in a field, factory, or parking lot.”
- Pedestrian vehicular incidents: BLS defines these as “pedestrians and other nonoccupants of vehicles who are struck by vehicles or other mobile equipment in normal operation regardless of location.”
These three categories sum to the total number of fatalities from work-related motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). In the table extract above, though, the Total column to the left of the three MVC categories is not the sum of the three categories; it’s the total number of fatalities across all modes of transportation, not just road transportation. Some data users may be interested in the total number of MVC fatalities, while others want the detail provided in the three columns.
Industry is the employer’s main type of business, while Occupation is the worker’s job. The data in Table A-2 cover workers in all kinds of occupations within each industry. So, within the Truck transportation industry, you cannot assume that all the fatalities were among truck drivers. In fact, this category includes everyone who worked for businesses engaged in truck transportation – from office staff to mechanics to drivers.
The indentation of the industry categories is important. In the table extract above, each category indented under Truck transportation is a subset of that main category, but you cannot assume that all the values in the indented categories sum to that main category. For example, the totals for General freight trucking and Specialized freight trucking don’t necessarily sum to Truck transportation. This is because BLS tables only show data for industry categories with sufficient numbers of fatalities to meet their reporting requirements.
Related to this, you’ll note that a number of cells in the table have double dashes, which also indicate that the numbers of deaths don’t meet BLS reporting requirements. For example, under Taxi service, of the 16 total fatal Transportation incidents across all modes, you’ll see 14 fatalities due to Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle, but the other two motor vehicle categories have double dashes. Here, you can’t assume that the remaining 2 fatalities were in one of the other motor vehicle categories; they may in fact have involved a different mode of transportation altogether. A good approach is to use the data from the highest-level category that works for you – this will get you the most detailed fatality information possible.
Finally, it’s important to know that data in Table A-2 are shown separately for private-industry workers and government workers. The first section of the table shows detailed industry data for private-industry workers only. Then, beginning on page 28, the industry categories are repeated for federal, state, and local government workers. Because there are far fewer government workers than private-industry workers, the “government” section of any BLS table will typically show less detailed industry data and have more cells with double dashes. Whether you will need to refer to both the private-industry and government section of the table will depend largely on the industry you’re interested in. One industry where looking at both sections would be important is highway construction, where work is done by a combination of private businesses and government agencies at state and local level. In other cases, such as manufacturing, work is done almost exclusively in the private sector.
- Page last reviewed: February 24, 2017
- Page last updated: February 24, 2017
- Content source:
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Division of Safety Research