A look at workplace deaths and nonfatal injuries and illnesses for Workers’ Memorial Day

Workers’ Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for workers killed, disabled, or injured on the job, is observed annually on April 28. In 2021, 5,190 workers in the United States suffered fatal work injuries. The private construction industry accounted for 19.0 percent of the total workplace deaths in 2021, followed by transportation and warehousing with 18.8 percent.

There were 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2021, a 1.8-percent decrease from 2020. The decline in injury and illness cases resulted from a 32.9-percent drop in illness cases in private industry (from 544,600 in 2020 to 365,200 in 2021). Illnesses include work-related cases of COVID-19. Health care and social assistance was the only private industry that had a decrease in injury and illness cases in 2021, falling by 183,200 cases to 623,000. The decrease was driven by 163,600 fewer respiratory illness cases in 2021.

These data are from the Injuries, Illness, and Fatalities program. For more information, see “National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2021” and “Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses — 2021.” We also have more charts on fatal work injuries and nonfatal work injuries and illnesses.