Fatal work injuries totaled 46 in 2019 for West Virginia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in West Virginia was down from the previous year. Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 95 in 2010 to a low of 35 in 2015. (See chart 1.)

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 West Virginia, transportation incidents resulted in 24 fatal work injuries and exposure to harmful substances or environments accounted for 12 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 78 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.) Worker deaths from these two events were little changed over the year.

Contact with objects and equipment was the third-most frequent fatal work event with eight fatalities, unchanged from the prior year.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2019, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) 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 transportation and warehousing industry had the highest number of fatalities in West Virginia with 11. (See table 2.)

The private mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry had seven workplace fatalities.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 20. (See table 3.) Motor vehicle operators accounted for 16 of the 20 fatalities among transportation and material moving occupations. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second highest number of workplace fatalities with nine, followed by farming, fishing, and forestry occupations with four. Construction trades workers suffered six of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group. Forest, conservation, and logging workers accounted for 3 of the 4 farming, fishing, and forestry occupational fatalities.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 96 percent of the work-related fatalities in West Virginia. Nationwide, this group accounted for 92 percent of the work-related fatalities. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 50 percent of the fatalities for men in West Virginia.
• White non-Hispanics accounted for 93 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 62 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 54 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2019, similar to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• Of the 46 fatal work injuries in West Virginia, 91 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents.

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 at https://www.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 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, West Virginia, 2018–19

Event or exposure (1)	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	57	46	100
Transportation incidents	25	24	52
Rail vehicle incidents	--	1	2
Derailment	--	1	2
Pedestrian vehicular incident	4	4	9
Pedestrian struck by vehicle on side of road	--	1	2
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle on side of road	--	1	2
Water vehicle incidents	--	1	2
Fall or jump from water vehicle	--	1	2
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	16	16	35
Roadway collision with other vehicle	5	6	13
Roadway collision--moving in opposite directions, oncoming	--	3	7
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	9	9	20
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	9	9	20
Roadway noncollision incident	--	1	2
Jack-knifed or overturned, roadway	--	1	2
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	11	12	26
Exposure to electricity	3	2	4
Direct exposure to electricity	3	1	2
Direct exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts	3	1	2
Indirect exposure to electricity	--	1	2
Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts	--	1	2
Exposure to other harmful substances	7	10	22
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose	7	10	22
Contact with objects and equipment	8	8	17
Struck by object or equipment	7	5	11
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	4	5	11
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	--	2	4
Caught in running equipment or machinery	--	1	2
Caught in running equipment or machinery during regular operation	--	1	2
Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment	--	1	2
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	--	1	2
Excavation or trenching cave-in	--	1	2
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, West Virginia, 2019

Industry (1)	Number	Percent
Total	46	100
Private industry (2)	43	93
Goods producing	--	--
Natural resources and mining	11	24
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	4	9
Forestry and logging	4	9
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (3)	7	15
Mining (except oil and gas)	4	9
Coal mining	4	9
Coal mining	4	9
Bituminous coal and lignite surface mining	1	2
Bituminous coal underground mining	3	7
Service providing (4)	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--
Utilities	1	2
Utilities	1	2
Electric power generation, transmission and distribution	1	2
Electric power generation	1	2
Fossil fuel electric power generation	1	2
Transportation and warehousing	11	24
Truck transportation	9	20
General freight trucking	7	15
General freight trucking, local	1	2
General freight trucking, long-distance	5	11
Professional and business services	4	9
Educational and health services	2	4
Health care and social assistance	2	4
Other services, except public administration	1	2
Other services, except public administration	1	2
Repair and maintenance	1	2
Automotive repair and maintenance	1	2
Automotive mechanical and electrical repair and maintenance	1	2
General automotive repair	1	2
Government (5)	3	7
Local government	1	2
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) Includes fatal injuries at all establishments categorized as Mining (Sector 21) in the North American Industry Classification System, including establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction. (4) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts. (5) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. Cases classified as foreign government and other government are included in all government counts, but not displayed separately.
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, West Virginia, 2019

Occupation (1)	Number	Percent
Total	46	100
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	2	4
Health technologists and technicians	2	4
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics	2	4
Paramedics	2	4
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	--	--
Supervisors of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers	1	2
First-line supervisors of building and grounds cleaning and maintenance workers	1	2
First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers	1	2
Personal care and service occupations	1	2
Other personal care and service workers	1	2
Recreation and fitness workers	1	2
Recreation workers	1	2
Office and administrative support occupations	1	2
Material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distributing workers	1	2
Meter readers, utilities	1	2
Meter readers, utilities	1	2
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	4	9
Supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	1	2
First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	1	2
First-line supervisors of farming, fishing, and forestry workers	1	2
Forest, conservation, and logging workers	3	7
Logging workers	3	7
Fallers	3	7
Construction and extraction occupations	9	20
Construction trades workers	6	13
Electricians	2	4
Electricians	2	4
Extraction workers	1	2
Underground mining machine operators	1	2
Loading and moving machine operators, underground mining	1	2
Transportation and material moving occupations	20	43
Motor vehicle operators	16	35
Rail transportation workers	1	2
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	1	2
Railroad conductors and yardmasters	1	2
Material moving workers	3	7
Industrial truck and tractor operators	1	2
Industrial truck and tractor operators	1	2
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, West Virginia, 2018–19

Worker characteristics	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	57	46	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	52	42	91
Self-employed (2)	5	4	9
Gender
Men	56	44	96
Women	--	2	4
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	3	6	13
25 to 34 years	12	3	7
35 to 44 years	14	11	24
45 to 54 years	15	11	24
55 to 64 years	7	7	15
65 years and over	6	8	17
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	50	43	93
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	3	7
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) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships. (3) Information may not be available for all age groups. (4) 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.