Fatal injuries among volunteer workers--United States, 1993-2002.

In the United States, an estimated 59 million persons spend a median of 52 hours each year volunteering, most often in religious, educational, youth, or community service organizations; volunteers commonly perform activities such as coaching, campaigning, fundraising, delivering goods, and serving on boards or neighborhood associations. Few studies have analyzed fatal injuries to volunteers, and studies have typically focused on a specific volunteer group (e.g., Peace Corps). To characterize fatal injuries among volunteers in the United States, CDC analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) for 1993-2002. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that a total of 501 persons died from injuries sustained while volunteering during this period; most often these persons were firefighters and other volunteers who were operating motor vehicles at the time of death. To reduce these fatalities, organizations that rely on volunteers need to provide adequate training (e.g., defensive driving and recognition of evacuation signals) on the basis of well-communicated and enforced safety and health policies.