Occupational Fatalities

Occupational Fatalities in United States

United States

Occupational fatalities, also known as workplace fatalities, represent unsafe working conditions and personal risks faced by workers. In 2020, there were 4,764 fatal workplace injuries in the United States — a 10.7% decrease since 2019. Transportation incidents accounted for the majority of fatalities (37.3%). In 2020, fishing and hunting occupations had the highest rates of workplace fatalities, followed by logging and roofer occupations.

Costs related to workplace injury and death were estimated at $163.9 billion in 2020, including workers' compensation, administrative expenses, wage and productivity losses, medical fees and damages to company property.

Populations of workers who experience higher workplace fatalities include: 

• Men compared with women.
• Hispanic or Latino workers compared with workers of other racial/ethnic groups. This may be due, in part, to large percentages of Hispanic or Latino adults working high-risk jobs (i.e., jobs with high fatal injury rates). The construction industry has one of the highest fatal injury rates, and the majority of the construction workforce is Hispanic/Latino.
• Adults ages 65 and older compared with younger adults.

Workplace fatalities are largely preventable, making them an important target for interventions. Improvements to workplace safety were lauded as one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.

Strategies for preventing workplace injuries and fatalities include:

• Increasing safety precautions and regulatory oversight.
• Encouraging employers to continuously identify, evaluate and minimize dangerous conditions.
• Providing high-visibility apparel to all workers in highway construction zones.
• Providing personal protective equipment, ladders and safe lifting techniques to prevent fatal falls.
• Allowing workers to unionize. A decline in unions in recent years due, in part, to right-to-work laws is associated with an increase in occupational fatalities in one study.

Moreover, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provides various training materials for employers to prevent workplace fatalities.

Reducing deaths from work-related injuries in all industries is a Healthy People 2030 objective. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Improvements in Workplace Safety -- United States, 1900-1999.” MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 48, no. 22 (June 11, 1999): 461–69.

Seabury, Seth A., Sophie Terp, and Leslie I. Boden. “Racial And Ethnic Differences In The Frequency Of Workplace Injuries And Prevalence Of Work-Related Disability.” Health Affairs 36, no. 2 (February 2017): 266–73. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1185.

Smith, G S. “Public Health Approaches to Occupational Injury Prevention: Do They Work?” Injury Prevention 7, no. 90001 (September 1, 2001): 3i–10. https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.7.suppl_1.i3.

Zoorob, Michael. “Does ‘Right to Work’ Imperil the Right to Health? The Effect of Labour Unions on Workplace Fatalities.” Occupational and Environmental Medicine 75, no. 10 (October 2018): 736–38. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2017-104747.