Abstract
Women currently make up almost half of the U.S. work force and increasingly are moving into occupations, such as the construction trades, once held exclusively by men. In 1997, there were 8.1 million construction workers, of which 2% were skilled tradeswomen. Construction is a dangerous industry: 17% of all fatal on-the-job injuries occur in construction, which also has a high rate of nonfatal injuries. While both men and women working in construction face many of the same risks, there are some unique issues that are of greater concern to women. The average fatality rate of 1.80 per 100,000 female construction workers was more than twice the all-industry average for women workers. Tradeswomen are more likely than their male counterparts to die in job-related motor vehicle accidents or from job-related homicide and less likely to die from falls. Of women killed by motor vehicles, 30% worked as so-called flaggers.