Workplace suicides on the rise

Not all of the preliminary findings in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' study were positive. Among the most startling statistics noted in the report, researchers found that workplace suicides jumped 28 percent to an all-time high.

Of the 251 suicides in 2008, 236 of them were committed by men (94 percent). In addition, workers aged 45-54 accounted for the highest number of suicides (90 fatalities, or 36 percent), and 78 percent (197 suicides) of the individuals were white.

Workers in management occupations accounted for the largest group of suicides. In 2008 they accounted for 14 percent of suicides (34 fatalities) and in 2007 they accounted for 18 percent of all suicides (35 fatalities). Transportation and material moving occupations, sales and related occupations, and protective service occupations each accounted for 10 percent of total suicides. The occupations that experienced the largest increases in suicides from 2007 to 2008 were protective service occupations, which rose from 14 in 2007 to 25 in 2008. About a third of the total protective service suicides in 2008 were police officers.

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Despite this trend, the report found that workplace homicides fell by 18 percent. The 2008 preliminary workplace homicide count of 517 represents a decline of 52 percent from the high of 1,080 homicides reported in 1994.

Read more at the WORKERSCOMP Forum^TM homepage.

September 28, 2009

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