August 22, 2000
In 1999, deaths resulting from on-the-job falls increased slightly to 717.
This increase, coupled with a decline in homicides, made falls the second-leading cause of fatal work injuries for the first time since the fatality census began in 1992. (Highway crashes continued as the leading cause of on-the-job fatalities during 1999.)
About half of the fatal falls were from a roof, ladder, or scaffold, and slightly over half of the fatal falls occurred in the construction industry.
These data are a product of the BLS Safety and Health Statistics Program. Additional information is available from "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 1999," news release USDL 00-236.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, On-the-job deaths due to falls in 1999 on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2000/aug/wk3/art02.htm (visited December 22, 2014).