Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities Program

Banner of workers in the transportation, warehousing and utlities industries

The Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities (TWU) Program provides leadership to promote health and safety among workers in these industries. The TWU Program works with partners in industry, labor, government, trade associations, professional organizations, and academia to address the leading causes of work-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities to improve the safety, health and well-being of TWU workers.

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COVID-19
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Top 3 Affected Industries
Description

The TWU Program is comprised of eight industries. This super sector grouping includes two parts: the Transportation and Warehousing Sector and the Utilities Sector and covers:

  • Transportation including all modes of transporting passengers and cargo by air, rail, water, road, and pipeline.
  • Warehousing consists of establishments engaged primarily in the storage of goods.
  • Utilities covers electric power, natural gas, alternative sources, water, sewage, and other systems.
sector statistics
NAICS Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities Employment 2019 (% of total TWU) Fatalities 2019 (% of total TWU) Fatality rate per 100,000 FTE
48-49 Transportation and Warehousing 7,747,000 (84%) 948 (96%) 12.2
481 Air Transportation 626,000 (7%) 34 (3%) 4.6
482 Rail Transportation 260,000 (3%) 11 (1%) 6.6
483 Water Transportation 87,000 (1%) 13 (1%) 13.2
484 Truck Transportation 2,340,000 (25%) 617 (63%) 27.3
485 Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation 1,111,000 (12%) 68 (7%) 5.7
486 Pipeline Transportation 54,000 (1%) 0 (<1%) 0.00
487 Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation 51,000 (<1%) 8 (1%) 32.1
488 Support Activities for Transportation 884,000 (10%) 103 (10%) 10.2
491 Postal Service 674,000 (7%) 21 (2%) 2.7
492 Couriers and Messengers 873,000 (9%) 45 (4%) 7.2
493 Warehousing and Storage 788,000 (7%) 24 (2%) 4.1
22 Utilities 1,468,000 (%) 39 (4%) 2.7
Research Priorities

The Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities Program has selected research priorities on the basis of burden, need, and impact and collaborated with other NIOSH research programs to write the research goals in the NIOSH Strategic Plan for FYs 2019-2023. The priority areas are:

  • Reducing cardiovascular diseases including obesity through interventions focused on work organization
  • Reducing transportation incidents and related traumatic injuries including vehicle design and prescription drug use/misuse as well as fatal and non-fatal machine-related injuries
  • Promoting safe and healthy work design to reduce obesity and chronic disease, injuries associated with human-machine interaction, and fatalities related to fatigue and stress
Accomplishments

The Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities Program Performance One-pager (PPOP) offers a snapshot of NIOSH programs’ priorities, strategies used to make progress towards priorities, recent accomplishments, and upcoming work.

To learn more

NIOSH topic pages provide access to a broad range of information on occupational safety and health subjects. Typically, topic pages contain materials and links to NIOSH publications and other resources related to a particular topic.

Related NIOSH Centers

NORA Council

The TWU Program helps lead the NORA Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities Sector Council, which brings together individuals and organizations to share information, form partnerships, and promote adoption and dissemination of solutions that work. The council seeks to facilitate the most important research, understand the most effective intervention strategies, and learn how to implement those strategies to achieve sustained improvements in workplace practice. The final version of the research agenda for the TWU sector council can be found here.

Contact the TWU Program

Contact nioshtwu@cdc.gov with questions about the TWU Program