Fatal injuries in U.S. workplaces rise in 2014

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.

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.

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.