The fatality data presented in this paper are derived from
the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS)
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).1 For the years
between 1992 and 2002, CFOI reports 67 373 occupational
fatalities. The database includes incident narratives, the source
of injury, the victim’s occupation, location of the incident,
work activity at the time of the incident, and other details.
Each case is verified through at least two documents such as
a death certificate, news account, or police report. CFOI fatality
numbers include fatal injuries to all workers but exclude deaths
from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Employment
data used in this paper to compute fatal injury rates are taken
from the BLS Current Population Survey (CPS).2 CPS data
represent civilian workers who are 16 years old or older.
Nonfatal electrical injury data in this paper are derived from
