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WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE

Program Description

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The Wholesale and Retail Trade Program is aimed at reducing the number of work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities among the nearly 20.3 million employees that work in 1.6 million establishments that comprise the Wholesale and Retail Trade (WRT) sector. This program focuses on those WRT subsectors with the highest rates of work-related injuries/illnesses and fatalities.

Subsectors

The NIOSH WRT Program is based on the NORA Wholesale and Retail Trade Sector grouping. It covers approximately 20 million workers in North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industries 42 and 44-45.

In 2015, the wholesale component consists of three subsectors, about 625,000 establishments and 3.6 million employees.

NAICS NAICS Subsector Title Establishments within NAICS Group Number of Workers
423 Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods Merchant wholesalers of: Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Parts and Supplies; Furniture and Home Furnishing; Lumber and Other Construction Materials; Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies; Metal and Mineral (except Petroleum); Household Appliances and Electrical and Electronic Goods; Hardware, and Plumbing and Heating Equipment and Supplies; Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies; Miscellaneous goods 1,726,000
424 Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers of: Paper and Paper Product; Drugs and Druggists’ Sundries; Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions; Grocery and Related Product; Farm Product Raw Material; Chemical and Allied Products; Petroleum and Petroleum Products; Beer, Wine, and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage; Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods 1,785,000
425 Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers 66,000
Total 3,577,000

In 2015, the retail component consists of twelve subsectors, about 1 million establishments and 16.7 million employees.

NAICS NAICS Subsector Title Establishments within NAICS Group Number of Workers
441 Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers Automobile Dealers; Other Motor Vehicle Dealers; Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Stores 2,004,000
442 Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores Furniture Stores; Home Furnishings Stores 619,000
443 Electronics and Appliance Stores Electronics and Appliance Stores 588,000
444 Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers Building Material and Supplies Dealers; Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Stores 1,448,000
445 Food and Beverage Stores Grocery Stores; Specialty Food Stores; Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores 3,170,000
446 Health and Personal Care Stores Pharmacies and Drug Stores; Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, and Perfume Stores; Optical Goods Stores; Other Health and Personal Care Stores; Food (Health) Supplement Stores 1,308,000
447 Gasoline Stations Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores; Other Gasoline Stations 533,000
448 Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores Clothing Stores; Shoe Stores; Jewelry, Luggage, and Leather Goods Stores 1,415,000
451 Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores Sporting Goods, Hobby, and Musical Instrument; Book Stores and News Dealers 717,000
452 General Merchandise Stores Department Stores; Other General Merchandise Stores (including warehouse clubs and supercenters) 2,659,000
453 Miscellaneous Store Retailers Florists; Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Stores; Used Merchandise Stores; Used Merchandise Stores (including pet supply stores, art dealers, and manufactured home dealers) 1,105,000
454 Nonstore Retailers Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses; Vending Machine Operators; Direct Selling Establishments 710,000
Total 16,276,000

The Number of Workers is obtained from the 2015 Current Population Survey, http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.pdf , accessed August 24, 2016

Program Purpose

The WRT sector’s primary function is to develop and implement interventions designed to reduce the rate of work-related injuries/illnesses and fatalities. This is accomplished using the Public Health Model that is based on the following four functions:

  • improving our health related surveillance functions,
  • conducting research to establish causal relationships between workplace hazards and adverse health outcomes,
  • evaluating the effectiveness of interventions to reduce injuries, illnesses and fatalities, and
  • sharing the information with employees, employers, practitioners, academic partners, and trade associations (both professional and labor).

This work enables other government agencies, employers, and other organizations to take steps to improve the overall health and well-being of the WRT workforce.

Priority Populations

Warehouse worker on forklift The WRT program’s priority populations consist of permanent and temporary employees who frequently are at risk of incurring workplace injuries, illnesses and even fatalities. Temporary workers in particular are often rushed into their new job assignments without sufficient workplace safety and health training to assure their well-being. When the jobs are new to them both permanent and temporary employees are often unfamiliar with the specific hazards at their new workplace.

Another name for temporary workers that may be more descriptive of their status is “contingent workers.” Contingent workers are more likely to be young, female, black or Hispanic, and to have lower incomes and fewer benefits. An increasing body of evidence suggests, contingent workers are at higher risk of work-related injury than those who have been on the job for a period of time.

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