The U.S. has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world. For 1998, the U.S. fire death rate was 14.9 deaths per million population. Between 1994 and 1998, an average of 4,400 Americans lost their lives and another 25,100 were injured annually as the result of fire. 
Each year, fire kills more Americans than all natural disasters combined. Fire is the third leading cause of accidental death in the home; at least 80 percent of all fire deaths occur in residences. Workplace fires also contribute to loss of life. In 1991, the National Safety Council estimated that fires and burns accounted for 3.3 percent of all occupational fatalities. In building fires, smoke is acknowledged as the most significant cause of death, injury, and property loss.
There is a long and tragic history of workplace fires in this country. One of the most notable was the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City in 1911 in which nearly 150 women and young girls died because of locked fire exits and inadequate fire extinguishing systems.
History repeated itself several years ago in the fire in Hamlet, North Carolina, where 25 workers died in a fire in a poultry processing plant. It appears that here, too, there were problems with fire exits and extinguishing systems.
When OSHA conducts workplace inspections, it checks to see whether employers are complying with OSHA standards for fire safety. Most notably, OSHA standards require employers to provide proper exits, fire fighting equipment, and employee training to prevent fire deaths and injuries in the workplace.
