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News Release Information

24-99-CHI
Thursday, February 29, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (312) 353-1138

Fatal Work Injuries in North Dakota — 2022

Fatal work injuries totaled 37 in 2022 for North Dakota, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the number of work-related fatalities in North Dakota was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 65 in 2012 to a low of 20 in 1992. Nationwide, a total of 5,486 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2022, a 5.7-percent increase from 5,190 in 2021, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).


Fatal event or exposure

In North Dakota, transportation incidents resulted in 13 fatal work injuries and accounted for 35 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 10 over the year.

Contact with objects and equipment accounted for eight fatalities, unchanged over the year. Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the third-most frequent fatal work event with seven fatalities, up from six in the prior year. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in five work-related deaths.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in 2022, accounting for 38 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (16 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals along with exposure to harmful substances or environments (15 percent each).


Industry

The private agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in North Dakota with 11, the same as in the previous year. (See table 2.) Violence and other injuries by persons or animals and contact with objects and equipment resulted in 4 and 3, respectively, of the 11 fatalities in the industry. The animal production and aquaculture subsector accounted for 6 of the 11 fatal workplace injuries in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry, and the crop production subsector accounted for five fatalities.

The private mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry sector had eight fatal workplace injuries. The support activities for mining subsector accounted for six, or 75 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry. The construction industry sector had six fatal workplace injuries.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with nine. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 8 of the 9 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second-highest number of fatal workplace injuries with eight. Construction trades workers suffered 3 of the 8 work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights
  • Men accounted for 95 percent of the work-related fatalities in North Dakota, compared to the 92-percent national share. (See table 4.) Contact with objects and equipment made up 23 percent of the fatalities for men in North Dakota, and exposure to harmful substances or environments accounted for 20 percent.
  • White non-Hispanics accounted for 78 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 58 percent of work-related deaths.
  • Workers 55 years and over accounted for 43 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2022, compared to 35 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
  • Of the 37 fatal work injuries in North Dakota, 73 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Transportation incidents accounted for 44 percent of work-related fatalities among wage and salary workers.

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 2022 national data, over 27,200 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 and the CFOI definitions.

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 Scope of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries: Concepts.

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 2022, there were 186 cases nationally where this occurred, and 157 of these latent cases occurred more than 30 days prior to the start of 2022. For more information on latent cases, see Understanding latency in fatal occupational injuries.

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 on the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, Compensation, Occupational Requirements, and Work Stoppages Statistics.

Acknowledgments. BLS 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, North Dakota, 2021–22
Event or exposure (1) 2021 2022
Number Number Percent

Total

34 37 100

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals

-- 5 14

Intentional injury by person

-- 5 14

Homicides--Intentional injury by other person

-- 3 8

Shooting by other person--intentional

-- 3 8

Suicides--Self-inflicted injury--intentional

-- -- --

Shooting--intentional self-harm

-- 1 3

Transportation incidents

10 13 35

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

8 7 19

Fires and explosions

-- 1 3

Explosions

-- 1 3

Falls, slips, trips

5 3 8

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

6 7 19

Exposure to other harmful substances

-- 5 14

Contact with objects and equipment

8 8 22

Struck by object or equipment

-- 5 14

Struck by discharged or flying object

-- 1 3

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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, North Dakota, 2021–22
Industry (1) 2021 2022
Number Number Percent

Total

34 37 100

Private Industry (2)

33 36 97

Goods producing

-- -- --

Natural resources and mining

-- 19 51

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

11 11 30

Crop production

7 5 14

Oilseed and grain farming

2 4 11

Animal production and aquaculture

3 6 16

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

-- 8 22

Support activities for mining

-- 6 16

Support activities for mining

-- 6 16

Support activities for mining

-- 6 16

Construction

-- 6 16

Construction

-- 6 16

Specialty trade contractors

-- 3 8

Building finishing contractors

-- 1 3

Flooring contractors

-- 1 3

Other specialty trade contractors

-- 2 5

Site preparation contractors

-- 2 5

Nonresidential site preparation contractors

-- 1 3

Service providing (4)

-- -- --

Trade, transportation, and utilities

-- 5 14

Wholesale trade

1 1 3

Merchant wholesalers, durable goods

1 1 3

Professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers

-- 1 3

Computer and computer peripheral equipment and software merchant wholesalers

-- 1 3

Educational and health services

3 1 3

Health care and social assistance

3 1 3

Hospitals

-- 1 3

General medical and surgical hospitals

-- 1 3

General medical and surgical hospitals

-- 1 3

Leisure and hospitality

1 1 3

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

-- 1 3

Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries

-- 1 3

Other amusement and recreation industries

-- 1 3

Other services, except public administration

4 2 5

Other services, except public administration

4 2 5

Repair and maintenance

4 2 5

Automotive repair and maintenance

-- 1 3

Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) repair and maintenance

-- 1 3

Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) repair and maintenance

-- 1 3

Government (5)

1 1 3

Local government

1 1 3

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 concepts page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#industry.
(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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, North Dakota, 2021–22
Occupation (1) 2021 2022
Number Number Percent

Total

34 37 100

Management occupations

9 6 16

Other management occupations

8 6 16

Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

8 6 16

Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

8 6 16

Business and financial operations occupations

-- 1 3

Business operations specialists

-- 1 3

Human resources workers

-- 1 3

Computer and mathematical occupations

-- 1 3

Computer specialists

-- 1 3

Computer occupations

-- 1 3

Computer support specialists

-- 1 3

Computer user support specialists

-- 1 3

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

-- 5 14

Agricultural workers

-- 5 14

Miscellaneous agricultural workers

-- 5 14

Construction and extraction occupations

-- 8 22

Construction trades workers

-- 3 8

Construction laborers

-- 3 8

Construction laborers

-- 3 8

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

5 3 8

Transportation and material moving occupations

10 9 24

Motor vehicle operators

5 8 22

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

5 8 22

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

5 8 22

Material moving workers

4 1 3

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 these years, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#occupation. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.

NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, North Dakota, 2021–22
Worker characteristics 2021 2022
Number Number Percent

Total

34 37 100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

23 27 73

Self-employed (2)

11 10 27

Gender

Men

30 35 95

Women

4 2 5

Age (3)

25 to 34 years

7 10 27

35 to 44 years

3 6 16

45 to 54 years

3 3 8

55 to 64 years

8 11 30

65 years and over

11 5 14

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

28 29 78

Hispanic or Latino

-- 4 11

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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, February 29, 2024