Disparities in Fatal Occupational Injury Rates in North Carolina, 1978-2017: Comparing Non-Managerial Employees to Managers.

Abstract

We examined fatal occupational injuries among private-sector workers in North Carolina during the 40-year period 1978-2017, comparing the occurrence of fatal injuries among non-managerial employees to that experienced by managers. We estimated a standardized fatal occupational injury ratio by inverse probability of exposure weighting, taking the non-managerial workers as the target population. When this ratio measure takes a value greater than unity it signals settings in which non-managerial employees are not provided as safe a work environment as that provided for managers. Across all industries, non-managerial workers in North Carolina experienced fatal occupational injury rates 8.2 (95%CI: 7.0, 10.0) times the rate experienced by managers. Disparities in fatal injury rates between managers and the employees they supervise were greatest in forestry, rubber, and metal manufacturing, wholesale trade, fishing and extractive industries, and construction. The results may help focus discussion about workplace safety between labor and management upon equity, with a goal of providing a work environment for non-managerial employees as safe as the one provided for managers.