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News Release Information

24-254-ATL
Friday, February 16, 2024

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Fatal Occupational Injuries in Alabama — 2022

Fatal work injuries totaled 74 in 2022 for Alabama, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Alabama was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 155 in 1996 to a low of 70 in 2015. 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 Alabama, transportation incidents resulted in 29 fatal work injuries and accounted for 39 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 42 over the year.

Contact with objects and equipment was the second-most frequent fatal work event with 14 fatalities, down from 17 in the prior year. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 12 work-related deaths compared to 22 in 2021.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in 2022, accounting for 38 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips were 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 transportation and warehousing industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Alabama with 23, down from 25 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 15 of the 23 fatalities in the industry. The general freight trucking industry group accounted for 14, or 61 percent, of fatal workplace injuries in this industry.

The private construction industry sector had 10 fatal workplace injuries, down from 22 in the previous year. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 7 of the 10 fatal injuries in this industry.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 28. (See table 3.) Motor vehicle operators accounted for 23 of the 28 fatalities among transportation and material workers.

Additional highlights
  • Men accounted for 88 percent of the work-related fatalities in Alabama, compared to the national share of 92 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 40 percent of the fatalities for men in Alabama.
  • White non-Hispanics accounted for 61 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 58 percent of work-related deaths.
  • Workers 25 to 34 years old accounted for 27 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2022, compared to 18 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
  • Of the 74 fatal work injuries in Alabama, 89 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers and for self-employed 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 thanks the Alabama Department of Labor 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, Alabama, 2021–22
Event or exposure (1) 2021 2022
Number Number Percent

Total

111 74 100

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals

22 12 16

Intentional injury by person

21 11 15

Homicides--Intentional injury by other person

-- 7 9

Suicides--Self-inflicted injury--intentional

-- 4 5

Shooting--intentional self-harm

-- 4 5

Transportation incidents

42 29 39

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

25 21 28

Roadway collision with object other than vehicle

12 11 15

Fires and explosions

-- -- --

Falls, slips, trips

20 -- --

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

10 9 12

Exposure to other harmful substances

4 4 5

Contact with objects and equipment

17 14 19

Struck by object or equipment

10 10 14

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

6 5 7

Overexertion and bodily reaction

-- -- --

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. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

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

Total

111 74 100

Private Industry (2)

100 67 91

Goods producing

-- -- --

Natural resources and mining

4 6 8

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

4 6 8

Construction

22 10 14

Construction

22 10 14

Specialty trade contractors

13 7 9

Manufacturing

17 7 9

Service providing (3)

-- -- --

Trade, transportation, and utilities

-- 30 41

Wholesale trade

6 4 5

Retail trade

-- 3 4

Transportation and warehousing

25 23 31

Truck transportation

16 17 23

General freight trucking

13 14 19

Information

-- -- --

Financial activities

-- -- --

Professional and business services

-- 8 11

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

7 8 11

Educational and health services

-- -- --

Leisure and hospitality

-- -- --

Other services, except public administration

4 2 3

Public administration

-- -- --

Government (4)

-- -- --

Federal government

1 -- --

State government

2 3 4

Local government

7 3 4

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 www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#industry.
(2) Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts.
(3) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts.
(4) 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. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

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

Total

111 74 100

Management occupations

1 4 5

Business and financial operations occupations

-- -- --

Computer and mathematical occupations

-- -- --

Architecture and engineering occupations

-- -- --

Life, physical, and social science occupations

-- -- --

Community and social service occupations

-- -- --

Legal occupations

-- -- --

Educational instruction and library occupations

-- -- --

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

-- -- --

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

-- -- --

Healthcare support occupations

-- -- --

Protective service occupations

-- -- --

Food preparation and serving related occupations

-- -- --

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

3 6 8

Grounds maintenance workers

-- 6 8

Personal care and service occupations

-- -- --

Sales and related occupations

1 5 7

Office and administrative support occupations

-- -- --

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

-- 3 4

Construction and extraction occupations

23 6 8

Construction trades workers

17 6 8

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

14 6 8

Production occupations

9 8 11

Metal workers and plastic workers

-- 4 5

Welding, soldering, and brazing workers

-- 4 5

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers

-- 4 5

Transportation and material moving occupations

42 28 38

Motor vehicle operators

28 23 31

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 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. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

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

Total

111 74 100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

104 66 89

Self-employed (2)

7 8 11

Gender

Men

107 65 88

Women

4 9 12

Age (3)

25 to 34 years

29 20 27

45 to 54 years

15 13 18

55 to 64 years

25 13 18

65 years and over

14 12 16

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

78 45 61

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

23 21 28

Hispanic or Latino

-- -- --

Asian, non-Hispanic

-- -- --

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic

-- -- --

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. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

 

Last Modified Date: Friday, February 16, 2024