Traumatic Fatalities at Work

To define the rates and characteristics of fatal occupational injuries among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in the United States, we examined death certificates included in the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities data base for deaths occurring from 1980 to 1988. Two hundred and seventy-four work-related deaths among AI/AN civilians (259 men, 15 women) were identified. In 1980, the fatality rate among employed AI/AN was 5.5/100,000 workers compared with 7.7/100,000 workers for the United States. Ninety percent of the AI/AN deaths were from unintentional injury, 6% from homicide, and 3% from suicide. The pattern of fatal occupational injuries among AI/AN differs from that for all races combined, especially with regard to the larger percent of AI/AN fatalities in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry and the high proportion of water transportation incidents.