Fatal occupational injuries among electric power company workers

Surveillance data suggest high rates of electrocutions and fatal falls amon g workers in electric utility companies, who may be exposed to electric cur rent, heights, flammable agents, and frequent motor vehicle travel. To char acterize the occurrence of fatal injuries among electric utility workers, w e studied workers in Jive electric power companies in the United States, A cohort of 127,129 men hired between 1950 and 1986 was followed through 1988 Injuries at work were identified through manual review of death certificat es. The occurrence of occupational injuries was analyzed with directly adju sted rates and Poisson regression. The overall rate of fatal occupational i njuries was 13.20 per 100,000 person-years (n = 192), with 76% due to elect ric current, homicide; and falls from heights. Deaths were concentrated in a few groups with elevated injury Fates, notably linemen (rate ratio (RR) 3 .33), electricians (RR 2.79), and painters (RR 3.27). Occupations requiring daily work on elevations or frequent, direct contact with energized electr ical equipment experienced markedly higher rates of fatal injury from falls and electrocutions with rate ratios of 21.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) 11.4-41.5) and 16.7 (95% CI 66-42.6), respectively, independent of worker a ge and seniority Although fatal injury rates in this industry have declined in recent decades, significant numbers of deaths still occur: Based on the premise that all injuries are preventable, a need for continued vigilance and efforts at prevention is indicated. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.