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Fatal injuries in U.S. workplaces rise in 2014

April 28, 2016

Workers’ Memorial Day, observed each year on April 28, honors workers killed, injured, or made ill at work. In 2014, 4,821 workers in the United States died from an injury suffered at work, the highest figure since 2008. A worker died every 2 hours in the United States from a workplace injury in 2014.

 

 

Number of fatal workplace injuries in the United States, 1992–2014
Year Total Self-employed Wage and salary workers

1992

6,217 1,242 4,975

1993

6,331 1,303 5,025

1994

6,632 1,262 5,370

1995

6,275 1,201 5,074

1996

6,202 1,225 4,977

1997

6,238 1,268 4,970

1998

6,055 1,251 4,804

1999

6,054 1,150 4,904

2000

5,920 1,184 4,736

2001

5,915 1,134 4,781

2002

5,534 1,053 4,481

2003

5,575 1,170 4,405

2004

5,764 1,177 4,587

2005

5,734 1,142 4,592

2006

5,840 1,032 4,808

2007

5,657 1,044 4,613

2008

5,214 1,031 4,183

2009

4,551 1,063 3,488

2010

4,690 1,039 3,651

2011

4,693 1,051 3,642

2012

4,628 1,057 3,571

2013

4,585 950 3,635

2014

4,821 1,093 3,728

The overall national rate of 3.4 fatal workplace injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2014 was slightly higher than the 2013 rate of 3.3. This was the first increase in the national rate since 2010.

 

 

Number of fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in the United States, 2006–14
Year Self-employed Wage and salary workers

2006

10.6 3.7

2007

11.0 3.5

2008

11.6 3.2

2009

12.7 2.8

2010

12.6 3.0

2011

13.1 2.9

2012

12.8 2.8

2013

11.8 2.8

2014

13.6 2.8

The number of self-employed workers killed at work in 2014 was the highest since 2005. Self-employed workers also experienced a higher fatal injury rate in 2014—13.6 fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers—than did wage and salary workers, 2.8. Wage and salary workers still accounted for the largest number of at-work deaths in 2014, with 3,728 (77 percent of the total).

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. BLS published the final counts of fatal work injuries in the United States in 2014 on April 21, 2016. 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 rise in 2014 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/fatal-injuries-in-us-workplaces-rise-in-2014.htm (visited March 18, 2024).

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