Silicosis Deaths in the United States

The Occupational Health Administration has calculated the number of silicosis deaths in various industries and trades. The excess mortality ("unnecessary deaths") due to silicosis is summarized below in a table taken from OSHA's website.

Deaths from Silica in the Workplace

The first column is the occupational title. The second column (PMR) is the observed number of deaths from silicosis per occupation divided by the expected number of deaths. Therefore, a value of one indicates no additional risk. A value of ten would indicate a risk ten times greater than normal risk of silicosis.

Miscellaneous metal and plastic machine operators 168.44
Metal mining 69.51
Hand molders and shapers, except jewelers 64.12
Miscellaneous nonmetallic mineral and stone products 55.31
Crushing and grinding machine operators 50.97
Nonmetallic mining and quarrying, except fuel 49.77
Hand molding, casting, and forming occupations 35.70
Iron and steel foundries 31.50
Molding and casting machine operators 30.60
Pottery and related products 30.73
Mining machine operators 19.61
Structural clay products 27.82
Mining occupations 15.33
Coal mining 9.26
Construction trades 14.77
Blast furnaces, steelworks, rolling and finishing mills 6.49
Grinding, abrading, buffing, and polishing machine operators 8.47
Miscellaneous fabricated metal products 5.87
Heavy equipment mechanics 7.72
Miscellaneous retail stores 4.63
Miscellaneous material moving equipment operators 6.92
Machinery, except electrical 3.96
Millwrights 6.56
Other primary metal industries 3.63
Crane and tower operators 6.02
Brickmasons and stonemasons 4.71
Not specified manufacturing industries 2.67
Painters, construction and maintenance 4.50
Construction 1.82

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