Industry
Ninety-four percent (431 fatalities) of fatal injuries from confined space incidents involved private industry workers. The largest number of confined space cases was in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, which accounted for nearly one-fourth of all confined space fatalities. Manufacturing had 20 percent and construction had 19 percent.

Over 75 percent of all fatal occupational injuries involving confined spaces occurred in the Midwestern or Southern regions of the United States. Farms in the Midwest and industrial places in the South were the two locations with the highest number of fatal occupational injuries in confined spaces, accounting for 108 fatalities each from 1997 through 2001.

Occupation
Operators, fabricators, and laborers were the victims in 175 fatal confined space incidents (or 38 percent of the five-year total), which was more than all other major occupation groups. Of these fatal injuries, 79 were incurred by laborers, including laborers in the construction industry. A total of 109 workers in farming occupations other than horticulture, nursery, and marine-life farms died due to fatal injuries in confined spaces.6 Approximately 65 percent of these 109 workers died in silos or grain bins. The top three events or exposures to farmers included:

• Caught in or crushed in collapsing materials, resulting in 63 fatal injuries
• Oxygen deficiency, resulting in 16 fatal injuries
• Inhalation of substances, resulting in 15 fatal injuries

With a relative risk above 9.0 and a comparatively high frequency of fatal injury in confined spaces (109 out of 458 total), farming occupations merit particular concern. Approximately consistent with overall farming statistics, all of the reported decedents from confined space workplace fatalities were male. Interestingly, 97 percent of decedents were white, and 71 percent were self-employed. Seventy-four percent of these cases took place in the Midwest.

Workers aged 65 or older made up the largest age group in farming to die within a confined space at 25 percent, 10 percent less than their share of all events in farming occupations. Workers aged 35 to 44 years old made up the second largest group of confined space fatalities with 21 percent. Silos and grain bins are the most hazardous of any location on farm premises, accounting for 71 deaths. Animal feed, cash grain crops, and field crops were the direct cause of death in 59 percent of cases. Sixty-three fatalities occurred when workers were caught in collapsing materials and were asphyxiated. Another 16 workers died due to oxygen deficiency, and 15 workers inhaled some type of toxic substance.

Interpretation
The data suggest that confined spaces have great potential for danger. Often the hazardous nature of the space in question goes undetected, resulting in sudden hazardous exposures with little warning. However, adhering to safety protocols can reduce the number of confined space fatal injuries each year. Twenty-two percent of all fatalities occurred between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., indicating those working in confined spaces in the late morning hours should be especially cautious (see Figure 4).

Moreover, those working in agriculture occupations frequently put in more than 14-hour days, which could contribute to the high representation of farming, forestry, and fishing workers in confined space fatalities. Also, the data suggest there is not sufficient awareness of the dangers involved in working in commonplace silos and grain bins.

Additionally, untrained rescuers should be aware of protocol specific to confined space hazards. If workers can identify the dangers in their working environments and be aware of sources of injury, such as poisonous atmospheres, temperature extremes, and instability in grain bins, confined space fatalities can be avoided.

References
1. Bender, Thomas R., Ted A. Pettit, et al. Worker Deaths in Confined Spaces: A Summary of Surveillance Findings and Investigative Case Reports. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 94-103, pp. 6-10.
2. More policy issue details can be found at OSHA's confined spaces Web site Safety and Health Topics: Confined Spaces, www.osha.gov/SLTC/confinedspaces.index.html.
3. Confined Space Hazards. Small Business Outreach Training Program Instructional Guide, May 1997, Des Plaines, IL. www.osha.gov/SLTC/smallbusiness/sec12.html.
4. For details regarding the methods of research employed, contact the author at the following: 202-691-6273, [email protected], 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE, PSB--Room 3175, Washington, DC 20212.
5. Two methods were employed to determine the number of fatal injuries occurring within rescue efforts. First, BLS developed coding for the activity in which the worker was involved at the time of injury. In this case, code 440 is defined as rescuing or evacuating and resulted in 15 fatal injuries. Second, the narratives may be examined to identify rescuing activities, which resulted in 25 fatal injuries. However, both of these may be insufficient because these incidents are often unwitnessed. Also, it could be incorrectly assumed that multiple fatality incidents within confined spaces imply one of the decedents was rescuing the other(s).
6. Farming occupations consist of Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system codes (developed by the Bureau of the Census) for farmers and farm managers, excluding horticultural farms, farm workers, and farm worker supervisors.