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News Release Information

23-420-PHI
Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:

Fatal Work Injuries in Pennsylvania — 2021

Fatal work injuries totaled 162 in 2021 for Pennsylvania, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the number of fatal workplace injuries in Pennsylvania was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 354 in 1994 to a low of 148 in 2020. Nationwide, a total of 5,190 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2021, a 9-percent increase from 4,764 in 2020, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Fatal event or exposure

In Pennsylvania, transportation incidents resulted in 59 fatal work injuries, falls, slips, and trips accounted for 30 fatalities, and contact with objects and equipment accounted for 29 fatalities. These three major categories accounted for 73 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 49 over the year, worker fatalities due to falls, slips, and trips were up from 28, and fatal work injuries from contact with objects and equipment were up from 27.

Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the fourth-most frequent fatal work event with 24 fatalities, down from 25 in the prior year.

Nationally, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal event in 2021, accounting for 38 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (16 percent), followed by both exposure to harmful substances or environments and violence and other injuries by persons or animals (15 percent each) and contact with objects and equipment (14 percent).

Industry

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Pennsylvania with 34, up from 25 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 25 of the 34 fatalities in the industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 23 of the 34 fatal workplace injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry.

The private construction industry sector had 29 fatal workplace injuries, down from 30 in the previous year. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 18, or 62 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 51. (See table 3.) Motor vehicle operators accounted for 37 of the 51 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers, or 73 percent. Of those, 31 were heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.

The construction and extraction occupational group had the second-highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 36. Construction trade workers suffered 28 of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group, or 78 percent. Of those, 11 were construction laborers.

Additional highlights:
  • Men accounted for 94 percent of the work-related fatalities in Pennsylvania, similar to the national share of 91 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 36 percent of the fatalities for men in Pennsylvania.

  • White non-Hispanics accounted for 72 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 60 percent of work-related deaths.

  • Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 62 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2021, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

  • Of the 162 fatal work injuries in Pennsylvania, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents; transportation incidents was also the most frequent fatal event for self-employed workers in addition to falls, slips, and trips and exposure to harmful substances or environments which all had five fatalities.


Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI uses a variety of state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2021 national data, over 23,900 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the BLS Handbook of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm and the CFOI definitions at www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/occupational-safety-and-health-definitions.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, some of which may be outside the scope of other agencies or regulatory coverage. Comparisons between CFOI counts and those released by other agencies should account for the different coverage requirements and definitions used by each agency. For more information on the scope of CFOI, see www.bls.gov/iif/overview/cfoi-scope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Latency Cases. Latent fatal occupational injury cases occur when the date of injury differs from the date of death. In some cases, the death occurs in a different year than the occupational injury and are known as cross-year latent cases. In 2021, there were 197 cases nationally where this occurred, and 174 of these latent cases occurred more than 30 days prior to the start of 2021. For more information on latent cases, see www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-10/latency-in-fatal-occupational-injuries.htm.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. CFOI reports fatal workplace injuries only. These may include fatal workplace injuries complicated by an illness such as COVID-19. Fatal workplace illnesses not precipitated by an injury are not in scope for CFOI. CFOI does not report any illness related information, including COVID-19. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-on-workplace-injuries-and-illnesses-compensation-and-occupational-requirements.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Pennsylvania Department of Health for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries. Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; state vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; state departments of health, labor, and industrial relations and workers' compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Pennsylvania, 2020–21
Event or exposure (1) 2020 2021
Number Number Percent

Total

148 162 100

Transportation incidents

49 59 36

Rail vehicle incidents

-- 2 1

Collision between rail vehicle and another vehicle

-- 2 1

Collision between rail and roadway vehicles

-- 2 1

Pedestrian vehicular incident

10 9 6

Pedestrian struck by vehicle on side of road

1 4 2

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

29 36 22

Roadway collision with other vehicle

18 18 11

Roadway collision--moving in same direction

5 5 3

Roadway collision--moving in opposite directions, oncoming

6 5 3

Roadway collision--moving and standing vehicle in roadway

-- 5 3

Roadway collision--moving and standing vehicle on side of roadway

1 2 1

Roadway collision with object other than vehicle

-- 14 9

Roadway noncollision incident

-- 4 2

Jack-knifed or overturned, roadway

-- 4 2

Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles

7 10 6

Falls, slips, trips

28 30 19

Falls to lower level

22 25 15

Other fall to lower level

19 17 10

Other fall to lower level 21 to 25 feet

3 3 2

Other fall to lower level more than 30 feet

-- 5 3

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

25 24 15

Exposure to other harmful substances

19 19 12

Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose

-- 15 9

Inhalation of harmful substance

-- 4 2

Contact with objects and equipment

27 29 18

Struck by object or equipment

21 23 14

Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport

-- 8 5

Struck or run over by rolling powered vehicle

-- 6 4

Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle

15 12 7

Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery--other than vehicle part

-- 4 2

Footnotes:
(1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Pennsylvania, 2020–21
Industry (1) 2020 2021
Number Number Percent

Total

148 162 100

Private industry (2)

137 155 96

Goods producing

-- -- --

Natural resources and mining

14 15 9

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

13 11 7

Crop production

4 4 2

Oilseed and grain farming

1 4 2

Corn farming

1 4 2

Animal production and aquaculture

5 4 2

Cattle ranching and farming

5 3 2

Dairy cattle and milk production

5 3 2

Poultry and egg production

-- 1 1

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (3)

1 4 2

Construction

30 29 18

Construction

30 29 18

Construction of buildings

-- 7 4

Residential building construction

-- 7 4

Residential building construction

-- 7 4

Residential remodelers

-- 3 2

Heavy and civil engineering construction

-- 4 2

Utility system construction

-- 3 2

Highway, street, and bridge construction

-- 1 1

Highway, street, and bridge construction

-- 1 1

Specialty trade contractors

22 18 11

Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors

9 10 6

Masonry contractors

-- 3 2

Residential masonry contractors

-- 1 1

Roofing contractors

8 5 3

Nonresidential roofing contractors

-- 1 1

Building equipment contractors

3 4 2

Plumbing, heating, and air-conditioning contractors

3 4 2

Manufacturing

13 24 15

Manufacturing

13 24 15

Food manufacturing

-- 4 2

Animal food manufacturing

-- 1 1

Animal food manufacturing

-- 1 1

Bakeries and tortilla manufacturing

-- 1 1

Chemical manufacturing

1 5 3

Plastics and rubber products manufacturing

-- 1 1

Plastics product manufacturing

-- 1 1

Polystyrene foam product manufacturing

-- 1 1

Primary metal manufacturing

-- 5 3

Electrical equipment, appliance, and component manufacturing

-- 1 1

Other electrical equipment and component manufacturing

-- 1 1

Battery manufacturing

-- 1 1

Storage battery manufacturing

-- 1 1

Service providing (4)

-- -- --

Trade, transportation, and utilities

41 43 27

Utilities

-- 1 1

Utilities

-- 1 1

Water, sewage and other systems

-- 1 1

Water supply and irrigation systems

-- 1 1

Wholesale trade

7 1 1

Retail trade

9 7 4

Sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, and book stores

-- 1 1

Sporting goods, hobby, and musical instrument stores

-- 1 1

Transportation and warehousing

25 34 21

Truck transportation

20 23 14

General freight trucking

15 20 12

General freight trucking, local

3 6 4

General freight trucking, long-distance

12 14 9

General freight trucking, long-distance, truckload

4 7 4

Specialized freight trucking

5 3 2

Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local

-- 3 2

Transit and ground passenger transportation

-- 3 2

School and employee bus transportation

-- 3 2

School and employee bus transportation

-- 3 2

Support activities for transportation

1 4 2

Support activities for rail transportation

-- 2 1

Support activities for rail transportation

-- 2 1

Couriers and messengers

-- 1 1

Couriers and express delivery services

-- 1 1

Couriers and express delivery services

-- 1 1

Warehousing and storage

-- 3 2

Warehousing and storage

-- 3 2

General warehousing and storage

-- 3 2

Financial activities

-- 3 2

Real estate and rental and leasing

-- 3 2

Professional and business services

-- 25 15

Professional, scientific, and technical services

-- 6 4

Professional, scientific, and technical services

-- 6 4

Architectural, engineering, and related services

-- 3 2

Engineering services

-- 3 2

Management, scientific, and technical consulting services

-- 1 1

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

17 19 12

Administrative and support services

-- 14 9

Waste management and remediation services

-- 5 3

Remediation and other waste management services

-- 3 2

Educational and health services

-- 4 2

Health care and social assistance

5 4 2

Leisure and hospitality

9 8 5

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

4 3 2

Accommodation and food services

5 5 3

Food services and drinking places

-- 5 3

Restaurants and other eating places

-- 5 3

Restaurants and other eating places

-- 5 3

Other services, except public administration

1 4 2

Other services, except public administration

1 4 2

Government (5)

11 7 4

Federal government

1 3 2

Footnotes:
(1) CFOI has used several versions of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) since 2003 to define industry. For complete information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts. Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts.
(2) Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts.
(3) Includes fatal injuries at all establishments categorized as Mining (Sector 21) in the North American Industry Classification System, including establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction.
(4) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts.
(5) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. Cases classified as foreign government and other government are included in all government counts, but not displayed separately.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Pennsylvania, 2020–21
Occupation (1) 2020 2021
Number Number Percent

Total

148 162 100

Management occupations

10 3 2

Other management occupations

7 3 2

Life, physical, and social science occupations

-- 1 1

Life, physical, and social science technicians

-- 1 1

Protective service occupations

6 -- --

Other protective service workers

1 1 1

Security guards and gambling surveillance officers

-- 1 1

Security guards

-- 1 1

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

14 14 9

Grounds maintenance workers

-- 9 6

Grounds maintenance workers

-- 9 6

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers

-- 5 3

Tree trimmers and pruners

-- 4 2

Personal care and service occupations

-- 1 1

Personal appearance workers

-- 1 1

Barbers, hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists

-- 1 1

Barbers

-- 1 1

Sales and related occupations

6 7 4

Retail sales workers

2 3 2

Cashiers

2 3 2

Cashiers

2 3 2

Office and administrative support occupations

-- 8 5

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

9 8 5

Agricultural workers

4 5 3

Miscellaneous agricultural workers

4 5 3

Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse

-- 2 1

Farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals

1 3 2

Construction and extraction occupations

23 36 22

Supervisors of construction and extraction workers

-- 4 2

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

-- 4 2

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

-- 4 2

Construction trades workers

19 28 17

Construction laborers

10 11 7

Construction laborers

10 11 7

Painters and paperhangers

-- 3 2

Painters, construction and maintenance

-- 3 2

Roofers

5 6 4

Roofers

5 6 4

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

11 11 7

Production occupations

4 8 5

Metal workers and plastic workers

-- 4 2

Metal furnace operators, tenders, pourers, and casters

-- 1 1

Metal-refining furnace operators and tenders

-- 1 1

Other production occupations

-- 4 2

Miscellaneous production workers

-- 1 1

Transportation and material moving occupations

47 51 31

Motor vehicle operators

30 37 23

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

-- 33 20

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

-- 31 19

Material moving workers

15 12 7

Laborers and material movers

10 7 4

Refuse and recyclable material collectors

-- 1 1

Refuse and recyclable material collectors

-- 1 1

Footnotes:
(1) CFOI has used several versions of the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) system since 2003 to define occupation. For complete information on the version of SOC used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Pennsylvania, 2020–21
Worker characteristics 2020 2021
Number Number Percent

Total

148 162 100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

107 138 85

Self-employed (2)

41 24 15

Gender

Men

137 152 94

Women

11 10 6

Age (3)

25 to 34 years

23 35 22

35 to 44 years

34 31 19

45 to 54 years

32 35 22

55 to 64 years

35 32 20

65 years and over

13 23 14

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

126 116 72

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

8 18 11

Hispanic or Latino

11 21 13

Asian, non-Hispanic

3 3 2

Footnotes:
(1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. Cases where employment status is unknown are included in the counts of wage and salary workers.
(2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships.
(3) Information may not be available for all age groups.
(4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude data for Hispanics and Latinos. Cases where ethnicity is unknown are included in counts of non-Hispanic workers.

NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

 

Last Modified Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2023