Fatal work injuries totaled 18 in 2019 for Delaware, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Delaware was up from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 18 in 1996 and 2019 to a low of 7 in 2009 and 2018.

Nationwide, a total of 5,333 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2019, a 2 percent increase from the 5,250 in 2018, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. The 5,333 fatal occupational injuries in 2019 represents the largest annual number since 2007.

Fatal event or exposure

In Delaware, transportation incidents resulted in seven fatal work injuries. Exposure to harmful substances or environments and contact with objects and equipment each resulted in four fatalities. These three major categories accounted for 83 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.)

Nationally, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2019, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 1.) Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry had seven fatalities in Delaware. (See table 2.) The private retail trade industry had three workplace fatalities.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had six workplace fatalities. (See table 3.) Motor vehicle operators accounted for 5 of the 6 fatalities among the transportation and material moving occupational group. The construction and extraction occupational group had five workplace fatalities.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 94 percent of the work-related fatalities in Delaware, compared to the 92-percent national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 35 percent of the fatalities for men in Delaware.
• White, non-Hispanics accounted for 72 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 62 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-34 years old accounted for 33 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2019, compared to 16 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• All of those fatally injured on the job in Delaware in 2019 were wage and salary workers.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI uses a variety of state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2019 national data, over 25,100 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the BLS Handbook of Methods on the BLS website atwww.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm and the CFOI definitions at www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, some of which may be outside the scope of other agencies or regulatory coverage. Comparisons between CFOI counts and those released by other agencies should account for the different coverage requirements and definitions used by each agency. For more information on the scope of CFOI, see www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Delaware Department of Labor for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries. Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; state vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; state departments of health, labor, and industrial relations and workers' compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Delaware, 2018–19

Event or exposure (1)	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	7	18	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	--	1	6
Intentional injury by person	--	1	6
Intentional injury by other person	--	1	6
Shooting by other person--intentional	--	1	6
Transportation incidents	--	7	39
Aircraft incidents	--	1	6
Other in-flight crash	--	1	6
Other in-flight crash into structure, object, or ground	--	1	6
Pedestrian vehicular incident	--	2	11
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in work zone	--	1	6
Pedestrian struck by vehicle backing up in work zone	--	1	6
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area	--	1	6
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle in nonroadway area	--	1	6
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	--	4	22
Falls, slips, trips	--	--	--
Falls to lower level	--	--	--
Other fall to lower level	--	--	--
Other fall to lower level more than 30 feet	--	1	6
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	--	4	22
Exposure to electricity	--	1	6
Indirect exposure to electricity	--	1	6
Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts	--	1	6
Exposure to other harmful substances	--	3	17
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose	--	3	17
Contact with objects and equipment	--	4	22
Struck by object or equipment	--	4	22
Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport	--	1	6
Struck by falling part of powered vehicle still attached	--	1	6
Struck by discharged or flying object	--	1	6
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Delaware, 2019

Industry (1)	Number	Percent
Total	18	100
Private industry (2)	16	89
Goods producing	--	--
Construction	7	39
Construction	7	39
Heavy and civil engineering construction	2	11
Utility system construction	2	11
Service providing (3)	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	6	33
Retail trade	3	17
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	1	6
Building material and supplies dealers	1	6
Home centers	1	6
Professional and business services	1	6
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	1	6
Administrative and support services	1	6
Footnotes: (1) CFOI has used several versions of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) since 2003 to define industry. For complete information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. (2) Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts. (3) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Delaware, 2019

Occupation (1)	Number	Percent
Total	18	100
Protective service occupations	1	6
Other protective service workers	1	6
Miscellaneous protective service workers	1	6
Crossing guards and flaggers	1	6
Construction and extraction occupations	5	28
Construction trades workers	2	11
Painters and paperhangers	1	6
Painters, construction and maintenance	1	6
Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	1	6
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters	1	6
Other construction and related workers	1	6
Transportation and material moving occupations	6	33
Air transportation workers	1	6
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	1	6
Airline pilots, copilots, and flight engineers	1	6
Motor vehicle operators	5	28
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	4	22
Footnotes: (1) CFOI has used several versions of the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) system since 2003 to define occupation. For complete information on the version of SOC used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Delaware, 2018–19

Worker characteristics	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	7	18	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	4	18	100
Gender
Men	6	17	94
Women	1	1	6
Age (2)
25 to 34 years	--	6	33
55 to 64 years	1	4	22
65 years and over	--	4	22
Race or ethnic origin (3)
White, non-Hispanic	4	13	72
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	3	17
Footnotes: (1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. Cases where employment status is unknown are included in the counts of wage and salary workers. (2) Information may not be available for all age groups. (3) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude data for Hispanics and Latinos. Cases where ethnicity is unknown are included in counts of non-Hispanic workers.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.