

The Monongah catastrophe catalyzed public awareness and led to passage of the Organic Act of 1910, which established the U.S. Of the 2534 mining-related fatalities that occurred in bituminous coal mines that year, 911 (36%) resulted from explosions of gas, coal dust, or a combination 869 deaths occurred in only 11 incidents. On December 6, 1907, a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia, killed a reported 362 men and boys (unofficial estimates exceeded 500 deaths), marking the largest coal mining disaster in U.S. Industries with the highest average rates for fatal occupational injury during 1980-1995 included mining (30.3 deaths per 100,000 workers), agriculture/forestry/fishing (20.1), construction (15.2), and transportation/communications/public utilities (13.4) ( Figure 2).** Leading causes of fatal occupational injury during the period include motor vehicle-related injuries, workplace homicides, and machine-related injuries ( Figure 3). The average rate of deaths from occupational injuries decreased 43% during the same time, from 7.5 to 4.3 per 100,000 workers. These data indicate that the annual number of deaths declined 28%, from 7405 in 1980 to 5314 in 1995 (the most recent year for which complete NTOF data are available). More recent and probably more complete data from death certificates were compiled from CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities (NTOF) surveillance system (5 CDC, unpublished data, 1999). The corresponding annual number of deaths decreased from 14,500 to 5100 during this same period, the workforce more than tripled, from 39 million to approximately 130 million (3). Under a different reporting system, data from the National Safety Council from 1933 through 1997 indicate that deaths from unintentional work-related injuries declined 90%, from 37 per 100,000 workers to 4 per 100,000 (3).

In 1913, the Bureau of Labor Statistics documented approximately 23,000 industrial deaths among a workforce of 38 million, equivalent to a rate of 61 deaths per 100,000 workers (4). The National Safety Council estimated that in 1912, 18,000-21,000 workers died from work-related injuries (3). In contrast, in 1997, 17 steelworker fatalities occurred nationwide (2). The earliest systematic survey of workplace fatalities in the United States in this century covered Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from July 1906 through June 1907 ( Figure 1) (1) that year in the one county, 526 workers died in "work accidents"* 195 of these were steelworkers. Using the limited data available, this report documents large declines in fatal occupational injuries during the 1900s, highlights the mining industry as an example of improvements in worker safety, and discusses new challenges in occupational safety and health.ĭata from multiple sources reflect the large decreases in work-related deaths from the high rates and numbers of deaths among workers during the early 20th century.
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Despite these successes, much work remains, with the goal for all workers being a productive and safe working life and a retirement free from long-term consequences of occupational disease and injury. Alice Hamilton ( see box, page 462), and others, considerable progress has been made in improving these conditions. Through efforts by individual workers, unions, employers, government agencies, scientists such as Dr. Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Improvements in Workplace Safety - United States, 1900-1999Īt the beginning of this century, workers in the United States faced remarkably high health and safety risks on the job. For assistance, please send e-mail to: Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail. Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file.
