For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Thursday, December 19, 2024 USDL-24-2564
Technical information: (202) 691-6170 • iifstaff@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/iif
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
NATIONAL CENSUS OF FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2023
There were 5,283 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2023, a 3.7-percent decrease from 5,486
in 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) The fatal work injury
rate was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, down from 3.7 in 2022. (See chart 2.)
These data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).
(Charts 1 and 2 appear here in the printed release)
Key findings
- A worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022.
- Transportation incidents were the most frequent type of fatal event, accounting for 36.8 percent (1,942) of
all occupational fatalities in 2023.
- Fatalities due to violent acts totaled 740 in 2023. Homicides (458) accounted for 61.9 percent of violent acts
and 8.7 percent of all work-related fatalities.
- Opioids were the primary source of 162 fatalities and a contributor in an additional 144 fatalities where multiple
drugs were the source.
- The fatal injury count and rate for Black or African American workers decreased from 2022 to 2023. The count dropped
10.2 percent from 734 in 2022 to 659 in 2023 and the rate dropped from 4.2 to 3.6 cases per 100,000 FTE workers.
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| Revision of Classification Systems |
| |
| The 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the updated Occupational Injury and Illness |
| Classification System (OIICS) were implemented in this release of 2023 data. Refer to the technical note for more |
| information. |
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Worker characteristics
- The fatal injury rate for Hispanic or Latino workers decreased from 2022 to 2023, down from 4.6 to 4.4 cases per
100,000 FTE workers.
- Transportation incidents were the highest cause of fatalities for both Black or African American (261) and Hispanic or
Latino (390) workers in 2023. The private industry sector with the highest number of Black or African American worker
fatalities was transportation and warehousing (200) and for Hispanic or Latino workers it was construction (410).
- Foreign-born Hispanic or Latino workers made up 67.1 percent (839) of all Hispanic or Latino worker fatalities
(1,250). Fatalities in the private construction industry sector accounted for 37.5 percent (315) of the 839 foreign-born
Hispanic or Latino worker deaths in 2023.
- Women accounted for 8.5 percent (447) of all fatalities, but accounted for 18.3 percent (84) of homicides in 2023.
- Women had the highest number of fatalities in the private health care and social assistance industry sector (63)
followed by the retail trade sector (59).
- Workers ages 55 to 64 continued to have the highest number of fatalities in 2023 with 1,089 (20.6 percent of total
fatalities). Transportation incidents were the highest cause of fatalities for this age group (401), followed by falls,
slips, and trips (226).
- Workers ages 25 to 34 had the highest number of fatalities due to violent acts (179), including 121 homicides and 58
suicides.
Private industry
- Construction had the most fatalities (1,075) among all industry sectors in 2023, and was the highest for the sector
going back to 2011. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 39.2 percent (421) of all construction fatalities, with
transportation incidents accounting for another 22.3 percent (240) of fatalities.
- Most fatal falls to a lower level (260 or 64.4 percent) within construction were from a height of between 6 and 30
feet, while 67 fatal falls were from a height of more than 30 feet. Portable ladders and stairs were the primary source
of 109 fatalities in construction.
- The transportation and warehousing sector had the second most fatalities (930), an 11.7-percent decrease from 1,053
fatalities in 2022. The fatal injury rate among workers in this sector also decreased from 14.1 in 2022 to 12.9 cases per
100,000 FTE workers in 2023.
- Transportation incidents accounted for 71.7 percent (667) of fatalities within the transportation and warehousing sector.
Roadway collisions with another vehicle accounted for 249 fatalities and roadway collisions with an object other than a
vehicle accounted for 193 fatalities. Within this sector 314 fatalities occurred on an interstate, freeway, or expressway
and 117 occurred on local roads or streets.
- Approximately 30 percent of fatalities in the retail trade industry sector were homicides (94).
- Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services had 484 fatalities in 2023. Trees, logs, and
limbs were the primary source of 79 of these deaths. The landscaping and groundskeeping occupation had the most fatalities
(102) in this sector, followed by tree trimmers and pruners (80).
(Chart 3 appears here in the printed release)
Occupation
- Workers in transportation and material moving occupations represented the occupational group with the most fatalities
(1,495) in 2023. However, fatalities for this group declined 7.7 percent from 2022, driven by an 11.9-percent decrease
in fatal injuries to heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. The rate for the occupational group also decreased from 14.6
per 100,000 FTE in 2022 to 13.6 in 2023.
- Fatalities among protective service occupations (276) decreased 17.6 percent in 2023, from 335 in 2022. Homicides (93)
accounted for 33.7 percent of these fatalities. The rate for this occupational group decreased from 10.2 fatalities per
100,000 FTE workers in 2022 to 8.2 in 2023.
- Work fatalities among building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers (337) decreased in 2023 from 352 in 2022. The 2023
rate was 7.1 fatalities per 100,000 FTE workers and in 2022 it was 7.4. About one-quarter (25.2 percent) of these fatalities
were from falls, slips, and trips (85) and another quarter (24.9 percent) were from contact incidents (84).
- There were no statistically significant increases in the 2023 fatal injury rate among the selected occupational groups
presented in chart 4.
(Chart 4 appears here in the printed release)
Fatal injury counts and rates by occupation, industry, and worker demographics are available at
www.bls.gov/iif/fatal-injuries-tables.htm.
United States Department of Labor
