Surveillance of Occupational Fatalities in Alaska during 2000-2012

INTRODUCTION:  Alaska had an occupational fatality rate of 10.2 deaths per 100,000 workers in 2012, which was more than three times higher than the national rate of 3.2 per 100,000 workers.  Analysis of surveillance data on occupational fatalities in Alaska remains vitally important in order to identify the occupations with high fatality rates and evaluate prevention programs in this hostile environment.

METHODS:  The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established the Alaska Occupational Injury Surveillance System (AOISS) to enable scientific analyses of occupational fatalities for specific industries and events.  Using the AOISS database, characteristics and trends of work-related fatalities were described for industries and occupations from 2000 to 2012.

RESULTS:  During 2000-2012, there were 493 occupational fatalities in Alaska with the highest rate in 2001 at 21.9 fatalities per 100,000 workers and the lowest rate in 2009 with 6.3 fatalities per 100,000 workers.  The occupational fatality rate declined 43.3% during this time period. The industries with the highest number of worker fatalities were: Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing/Hunting(123,25.1%); Transportation/Warehousing/Utilities(101,20.6%); Public Administration(65,13.2%); Manufacturing(54,11.0%); and Construction(36,7.3%).  The occupations with the highest fatalities all showed a decrease during 2000-2012, including fishermen(30.2%); pilots(24.8%); water transportation workers(47.1%); construction workers(12.3%); truck drivers(71.0%); and meat poultry and fish cutters and trimmers(68.6%).  The majority of fatal events were transportation incidents(314,63.7%) of which 156(31.6%) involved water transportation and 114(23.1%) involved air transportation.

CONCLUSIONS:  Although the rate of occupational fatalities declined during 2000-2012, the risk to workers in Alaska remains higher than the national average. There is still a need to target prevention programs to specific industries while taking into account the specific hazardous conditions workers face in Alaska.  Efforts to focus on the fishing and aviation industry should continue while other occupations at high risk such as construction workers, truck drivers, and fish cutters should be further examined.