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Workplace suicides reach historic high in 2018

February 07, 2020

Workplace suicides reached their highest level in 2018 since we began tracking them in 1992. There were 304 workplace deaths by suicide in 2018, an increase of 11 percent from 2017. Since 1992, the fewest workplace suicides recorded was 180 in 2005.

Workplace suicides, 1992–2018
Year Workplace suicides

1992

205

1993

222

1994

214

1995

221

1996

204

1997

216

1998

221

1999

218

2000

221

2001

230

2002

199

2003

218

2004

206

2005

180

2006

208

2007

196

2008

263

2009

263

2010

270

2011

250

2012

249

2013

282

2014

280

2015

229

2016

291

2017

275

2018

304

From 2014 to 2018, the top 12 detailed occupations with the highest suicide tallies accounted for 36 percent of suicides. Six of these occupations involved some type of management responsibility. Three other occupations—military occupations, police and sheriff’s patrol officers, and security guards—involve protective service responsibilities.

Top 12 occupations with high suicide counts, 2014–18
Occupation Workplace suicides

First-line supervisors of retail sales workers

81

Military occupations

80

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

75

First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers

40

Automotive service technicians and mechanics

37

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

32

Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers

29

Maintenance and repair workers, general

26

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

26

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers

25

First-line supervisors of nonretail sales workers

23

Security guards

23

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more, see “National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2018.” We also have more data on workplace suicides and more charts on fatal workplace injuries.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Workplace suicides reach historic high in 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/workplace-suicides-reach-historic-high-in-2018.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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