While American workers recognize safety as a serious issue, their perceptions of their greatest safety risks do not mirror reality, according to a National Safety Council survey.

In the Council's 2006 American Worker Safety Survey, accidental injury, which is the leading cause of death for people under 40 and the fifth leading cause of death for all ages, followed violent crime and natural disasters as the top safety concerns among American workers. The survey also found that more people feel safer at home than they do at work, when the opposite is true, according to national injury data.

The survey of more than 400 workers was conducted for the NSC's June National Safety Month observance by Atlanta-based Infosurv, a market research firm specializing in employee and customer surveys.

Asked to put unintentional injuries in perspective with other safety issues, natural disasters and violent crimes tied, with 59 percent of the respondents saying they were equally concerned about each of those threats. Unintentional injuries followed with 55 percent, and concerns about terrorism ranked fourth at 52 percent.

As cited in the report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual "Uniform Crime Report" showed that unintentional injuries claimed more than 110,000 lives, and disabled about 23.2 million people seriously enough to cause permanent or temporary disability. The report also cited that 16,137 Americans were murdered in 2004. That same year, 230 Americans died in natural disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme cold and severe or tropical storms. These statistics show that the opposite of what the American workers believe is true.

The survey also revealed that workers' perceptions of where injuries occur do not reflect national statistics that show far more people are killed or injured from accidents occurring in and around the home than in the workplace. About 31 percent of the respondents said they believe that they are safer at home than in the workplace, and 62 percent said they feel equally safe at both places, and 5 percent said they feel safer at work.

However, in 2004, nearly 44,100 workers died, and 6.8 million were disabled, as a result of injuries suffered off the job. About 5,000 workers died, and 3.7 million suffered disabling injuries, as a result of accidents in the workplace.

"Contrary to what most people believe, home is not the safe haven we think it is," said Alan C. McMillan, president and CEO of NSC. "With more than half of all accidental deaths occurring in homes and communities, we have a greater challenge protecting the public from injuries while off the job than in America's workplaces."