Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

A look at falls, slips, and trips in the construction industry

May 06, 2024

The National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction runs from May 6 through May 10 and highlights fall hazards and fall prevention in the construction industry. In 2022, nearly 1 in 5 workplace deaths occurred in the construction industry and 38.4 percent of these deaths were due to falls, slips, and trips. The construction industry accounted for close to half, 47.4 percent, of all fatal falls, slips, and trips in 2022.

Number of fatal work injuries in the construction industry by selected events or exposures, all ownerships, 2018–22
Fatal injury20182019202020212022

Total

1,038 1,102 1,034 1,015 1,092

Total falls, slips, and trips

340 418 371 393 412

Falls to lower level

321 401 353 379 397

Falls on same level

16 12 9 11 11

Within the private construction industry, nonfatal workplace falls, slips, and trips that required at least one day away from work occurred at an annualized rate of 31.5 per 10,000 full-time workers in the 2-year 2021–2022 period. The rate across all private industry was 22.6. Nonfatal falls to a lower level that required at least one day away from work happened at an annualized rate of 13.9 in the construction industry, while the overall rate for private industry was 4.6.

Annualized rate of nonfatal injuries involving days away from work per 10,000 full-time workers by selected event, private industry, 2021–2022
Injury All private industry Construction

Total falls, slips, and trips

22.6 31.5

Falls to lower level

4.6 13.9

Falls on same level

13.9 10.3

Slips, trips without fall

3.8 5.7

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more about injuries and illnesses in the workplace, see “Employer-reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses — 2021–2022.” We also have more charts on nonfatal work injuries and illnesses. To learn more about fatal work injuries, see "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2022." Also see charts of fatal occupational injuries data.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, A look at falls, slips, and trips in the construction industry at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/a-look-at-falls-slips-and-trips-in-the-construction-industry.htm (visited November 14, 2024).

OF INTEREST
spotlight
Recent editions of Spotlight on Statistics


triangle