Commercial fishing fatalities--Alaska, 1991-1992

Based on data from the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance system, Alaska had the highest state-specific work-related fatality rate during 1980-1989. During this period, the annual average private industry fatality rate in Alaska was 34.8 per 100,000 workers, nearly five times the annual average for the United States (7.0 per 100,000) (1). Fatalities in the commercial fishing industry-which accounts for the second largest percentage of revenue and number of jobs in the state-are among the highest industry-specific rates in the United States (1). Because of the high occupational fatality rates for Alaska, in 1991, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) initiated efforts in Alaska to improve surveillance and describe risk factors for serious occupational injuries associated with the fishing, logging, and air transport industries. This report uses data obtained and analyzed by NIOSH to characterize fishing industry deaths in Alaska for 1991 and 1992.