Occupational injury mortality in New Mexico.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine specific risks for occupational injury deaths in New Mexico. DESIGN: Retrospective review of state medical investigator reports from 1980 through 1991 with regard to industry, agent of death, gender, ethnicity, location, and alcohol and other drug involvement. PARTICIPANTS: New Mexico residents who were fatally injured while on the job. RESULTS: We identified 613 deaths: 87.1% unintentional, 10.6% homicides, and 2.3% suicides. Industries with the most fatalities were construction (11.8%), oil/gas (10.6%), and farming (8.6%). The primary agents of death were motor vehicles (41.7%), firearms (10.1%), and falling objects (10.0%). Almost all (95.6%) of the decedents were male. However, females were overrepresented among homicide deaths (P < .0001). Most unintentional injuries occurred in rural areas (69.1%), whereas most homicides (73.4%) and suicides (71.4%) occurred in urban areas. Drug or alcohol use was evident in 19.4% of cases. CONCLUSION: New Mexico has a high rate of occupational injury death, which appears to be associated with rural location and use of motor vehicles and alcohol.