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Florida Moves Up To #2 Nationwide In Deadly Jobs And Work Related Deaths

October 25, 2005

On-the-job deaths by Florida workers soared more than 20 percent last year even though fatal work injuries nationwide rose a mere 2 percent in 2004. Worse, as Florida deaths increased by double digits, worker deaths in California and Texas declined last year by 9 and 10 percent, respectively. The result: Florida moved from its usual slot at No. 3 past California to rank No. 2 among states last year in the grim rankings of workplace deaths. Texas remained No. 1 with 440 job deaths.

In Florida, 422 workers died on the job last year. That's up from 347 in 2003, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said. 'When you get more people and your economy is growing, this is sometimes an unfortunate consequence,' said Andrew Sabolic, policy coordinator with Florida's division of workers compensation in Tallahassee. He also cautioned against translating a sharp one-year increase into a broader trend. But under any economic scenario, a 20-percent jump in worker deaths in one year is disturbing, especially in light of declines in worker deaths among some other major states.

Florida's clogged roads contributed to many work-related deaths. So did Florida's crazy construction boom, and probably the roof-repair mania after last year's hurricanes, no doubt contributed to the rise in 2004 deaths from work-related falls.

Among the 422 who died last year on the job: Joanna Cruz, a 19-year-old Radio Shack employee in St. Petersburg, was the victim of an in-store shooting; Mario Alberto Orozco, 29, of Miami, who worked for Engineering Control Services when he lost control of a gas-powered saw as he helped dig a water main; Jose Altamirano, 42, of Miami, who was a construction worker seeking shelter from a morning downpour when he fell through an uncovered elevator shaft on the 19th floor of a beachfront high-rise in Hollywood; and Gerson Garcia Gomez, 20, of Veracruz, Mexico, who was doing roofing repairs on a building at Cypress Gardens Adventure Park when he tripped and fell through a skylight on the roof of a restaurant.

These four workers happen to be Hispanic. A Florida breakdown of worker deaths by race is not available, but nationally fatal work injuries among Hispanic workers in 2004 were up 11 percent, after declining the previous two years. Nationwide, worker deaths last year were 71 percent white, 15 percent Hispanic and 10 percent black. Florida's 422 worker deaths last year compares to 347 deaths in 2003, 354 in 2002, 368 in 2001 and 329 in 2000.

Last year's big jump was fueled by 198 transportation-related worker deaths, a 30 percent increase from 2003. Worker deaths also more than doubled last year to 75 as a result of falling. Countrywide, worker deaths last year rose to 5,703, about a 2 percent increase of 128 people. But of those additional 128, 75 deaths, or 59 percent, were Florida workers.

In Tallahassee, Sabolic said three types of work were involved in most of the additional deaths. Construction job deaths increased to 115 last year from 93 in 2003. Deaths in professional business services, made up heavily of financial service jobs, climbed to 63 from 42. And deaths in work related to trade, transportation and utilities rose to 102 in 2004 from 75.

A few nationwide details: of the nation's 5,703 worker deaths last year, 5,292 were men and 411 women; of the 411 women, nearly one in four deaths were homicides; of people 65 and older, 563 died on the job last year; of people 16 and younger, 12 died on the job.