Suruda A, Wallace D
Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City 84112, USA.
Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 1996;68(6):425-8. doi: 10.1007/BF00377864.
Several mortality studies of the chemical industry have examined fatal injuries, but most of these studies have been of employees of large chemical firms and have not separated work-related from non-work-related injuries. We examined all U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation files in 1984-89 in 47 U.S. states of fatal injuries in the chemical industry, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2800-2899. OSHA investigates all reported deaths over which it has jurisdiction; this includes most causes of work-related death except for homicide and motor vehicle crashes. For the 6 year period, there were 234 fatalities in the chemical industry, for a work-related fatality rate of 0.55 per 10,000 workers/year. The largest category of deaths was from explosions, with 99 (42%), followed by fire & burns, with 32 (14%), poisoning, with 31 (13%), and falls, with 18 (8%). Of the 99 deaths from explosions, 45 (45%) involved manufacture or handling of fireworks or other explosives. The fatality rate at firms with fewer than 50 employees was more than twice that of larger firms (P < 0.05) and employees at small firms were less likely to have been covered by a union contract (P < 0.05). OSHA issued citations for safety violations in 73% of the deaths. While regulatory authorities and the media often focus attention on large, multinational chemical corporations, the highest worker fatality rates are found at the smallest chemical firms.
化工行业的几项死亡率研究调查了致命伤害，但这些研究大多针对大型化工公司的员工，并未区分与工作相关和与非工作相关的伤害。我们查阅了美国职业安全与健康管理局（OSHA）1984年至1989年在47个美国州的调查档案，这些档案涉及标准产业分类（SIC）为2800 - 2899的化工行业致命伤害情况。OSHA对其管辖范围内所有报告的死亡事件进行调查；这包括除凶杀和机动车碰撞之外的大多数与工作相关的死亡原因。在这6年期间，化工行业有234人死亡，工作相关死亡率为每10000名工人每年0.55人。死亡人数最多的类别是爆炸，有99人（42%），其次是火灾和烧伤，有32人（14%），中毒，有31人（13%），以及坠落，有18人（8%）。在99起爆炸死亡事件中，45起（45%）涉及烟花或其他爆炸物的制造或处理。员工少于50人的公司的死亡率是大公司的两倍多（P < 0.05），小公司的员工受工会合同覆盖的可能性较小（P < 0.05）。OSHA在73%的死亡事件中开出了安全违规罚单。虽然监管机构和媒体经常将注意力集中在大型跨国化工公司上，但化工行业工人死亡率最高的是最小的化工公司。
