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Fatal injuries in U.S. workplaces fall over the last two decades

April 28, 2015

Workers’ Memorial Day, observed each year on April 28, honors workers killed, injured, or made ill at work. In 2013, 4,585 workers in the United States died from an injury suffered at work. This is the second-lowest figure since BLS began publishing national data in 1992. Although fatal workplace injuries have fallen 23 percent since 2000, a worker died every 2 hours in the United States from a workplace injury in 2013.

 

 

Number of fatal workplace injuries in the United States, 1992–2013
Year Total Younger than age 20 Ages 20 to 24 Ages 25 to 34 Ages 35 to 44 Ages 45 to 54 Ages 55 to 64 Age 65 and older

1992

6,217 175 544 1,556 1,538 1,167 767 467

1993

6,331 170 508 1,521 1,584 1,204 811 522

1994

6,632 181 545 1,567 1,619 1,310 866 525

1995

6,275 198 486 1,409 1,571 1,256 827 515

1996

6,202 195 444 1,362 1,586 1,242 855 504

1997

6,238 175 503 1,325 1,524 1,302 875 520

1998

6,055 202 421 1,238 1,525 1,279 836 541

1999

6,054 194 451 1,175 1,510 1,333 816 565

2000

5,920 200 446 1,163 1,473 1,313 831 488

2001(1)

5,915 175 441 1,142 1,478 1,368 775 530

2002

5,534 133 436 1,023 1,403 1,253 784 495

2003

5,575 137 462 1,018 1,329 1,301 802 523

2004

5,764 141 421 996 1,342 1,384 907 569

2005

5,734 165 403 1,017 1,243 1,389 933 578

2006

5,840 138 390 1,041 1,288 1,417 963 599

2007

5,657 135 424 991 1,168 1,425 934 574

2008

5,214 100 353 850 1,113 1,292 920 580

2009

4,551 84 275 704 908 1,173 853 551

2010

4,690 90 245 785 868 1,169 948 582

2011

4,693 84 292 714 875 1,222 936 569

2012

4,628 88 287 736 829 1,161 936 588

2013

4,585 71 279 777 853 1,115 933 557
Footnotes:

(1) Data for 2001 exclude fatal work injuries that resulted from the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Note: The total for each year includes fatal work injuries for which the worker's age was not known.

The rate of fatal workplace injuries has fallen since 2006, the first year that BLS published hours-based rates. The overall national rate of 3.3 fatal workplace injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2013 was the lowest published hours-based rate since 2006.

 

 

Number of fatal workplace injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in the United States, 2013
Age Rate

Total, all ages

3.3

Ages 18 to 19

2.6

Ages 20 to 24

2.2

Ages 25 to 34

2.5

Ages 35 to 44

2.8

Ages 45 to 54

3.4

Ages 55 to 64

4.1

Age 65 and older

9.2

Fatal injuries affect workers of all ages. In 2013, 5 workers under age 16 and 3 workers age 90 or older died from workplace injuries. Older workers have higher rates of fatal injury than younger workers; workers age 65 and older had a rate that was more than double the rate for all workers in 2013.

These data are from the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. BLS published the final counts of fatal work injuries in the United States in 2013 on April 22, 2015. You can learn more about Workers’ Memorial Day from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Fatal injuries in U.S. workplaces fall over the last two decades at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2015/fatal-injuries-in-u-s-workplaces-fall-over-the-last-two-decades.htm (visited March 29, 2024).

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