Fatal Work Injuries in New Jersey — 2023

Fatal work injuries totaled 81 in 2023 for New Jersey, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in New Jersey was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 145 in 1993 to a low of 69 in 2017. Nationwide, a total of 5,283 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2023, a 3.7-percent decrease from 5,486 in 2022, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Stacked column chart of fatal occupational injuries by employee status in New Jersey, 2014–23. Accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, New Jersey, 2014–23
Year	Total	Wage and salary	Self-employed
2014	87	70	17
2015	97	83	14
2016	101	85	16
2017	69	50	19
2018	83	68	15
2019	74	56	18
2020	82	66	16
2021	110	90	20
2022	116	95	21
2023	81	64	17
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fatal event or exposure

Falls, slips, and trips and exposure to harmful substances or environments were both the most frequent types of fatal events in New Jersey, with 19 fatalities each. Combined, they accounted for 47 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally, falls, slips, and trips accounted for 17 percent and exposure to harmful substances or environments was 16 percent. (See chart 2 and table 1.)
Transportation incidents (17) accounted for 21 percent of New Jersey workplace fatalities; nationally the share was 37 percent.

Clustered column chart of percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and New Jersey, 2023. Accessible version is available in View Chart Data link below the chart.

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and New Jersey, 2023
Event	United States	New Jersey
Falls, slips, trips	17	23
Exposure to harmful substances, environments	16	23
Transportation incidents	37	21
Contact incidents	15	16
All other	16	16
Note: Percents may not add to total due to rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Private industry

The construction sector had 18 fatalities. (See table 2.)
Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 10 of the 18 construction sector fatalities.
The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 11 of the sector’s fatal workplace injuries.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 19. (See table 3.)
Transportation incidents resulted in 9 of the transportation and material moving fatalities.
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers accounted for 11 of the major group’s fatal workplace injuries.

Worker characteristics

Wage and salary workers accounted for 79 percent of workplace fatalities in New Jersey; the self-employed comprised the remaining 21 percent. (See chart 1 and table 4.) Nationally, wage and salary workers comprised 83 percent of fatalities.
Males accounted for 95 percent of the work-related fatalities in New Jersey; the national share was 91 percent.
Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 54 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
White non-Hispanics accounted for 63 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 56 percent of work-related deaths.

Revision of Classification Systems

The 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the updated Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) were implemented with the release of 2023 data. As a result of these changes, comparisons between 2023 CFOI data and previous years should be made with caution. Refer to the national release technical note for more information.

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 fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the national CFOI release Technical notes, the BLS Handbook of Methods, and the CFOI definitions.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the New Jersey Department of Health 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 nationally. See the national CFOI release Technical Notes for details on cooperating entities.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, New Jersey, 2023
Event or Exposure (1)	Number	Percent (%)
All events and exposures	81	100
Violent acts	9	11
Transportation incidents	17	21
Pedestrian incidents involving motorized land vehicles	4	5
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	10	12
Roadway collision with other vehicle(s)	4	5
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	6	7
Collision with object or animal on side of roadway	6	7
Falls, slips, trips	19	23
Fall to lower level	15	19
Other fall to lower level	12	15
Other fall to lower level- 6 to 30 feet	5	6
Other fall to lower level- more than 30 feet	3	4
Exposure to harmful substances, environments	19	23
Exposure to harmful substances	19	23
Contact incidents	13	16
Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object	5	6
Struck, caught, or compressed by running powered equipment	4	5
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 3.02 implemented for 2023 data forward.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. 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, New Jersey, 2023
Industry	Number	Percent (%)
Total	81	100
Private industry (1)	70	86
Natural resources and mining	3	4
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	3	4
Construction	18	22
Construction	18	22
Specialty trade contractors	11	14
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	4	5
Building equipment contractors	4	5
Electrical contractors and other wiring installation contractors	4	5
Manufacturing	6	7
Manufacturing	6	7
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--
Retail trade	5	6
Transportation and warehousing	12	15
Truck transportation	6	7
General freight trucking	3	4
General freight trucking, local	3	4
Specialized freight trucking	3	4
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local	3	4
Transit and ground passenger transportation	3	4
Taxi and limousine service	3	4
Information	--	--
Financial activities	--	--
Professional and business services	8	10
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	5	6
Educational and health services	--	--
Leisure and hospitality	4	5
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	4	5
Other services (except public administration)	7	9
Other services (except public administration)	7	9
Repair and maintenance	4	5
Personal and laundry services	3	4
Personal care services	3	4
Government (2)	11	14
Federal government	--	--
State government	--	--
Local government	--	--
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 concepts page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#industry. (2) 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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. 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, New Jersey, 2023
Occupation (1)	Number	Percent (%)
All occupations	81	100
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	3	4
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	5	6
Personal care and service occupations	5	6
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	3	4
Construction and extraction occupations	16	20
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	5	6
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	5	6
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	5	6
Construction trades workers	11	14
Construction laborers	6	7
Construction laborers	6	7
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	10	12
Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers	3	4
First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers	3	4
First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers	3	4
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3	4
Production occupations	4	5
Transportation and material moving occupations	19	23
Motor vehicle operators	14	17
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	11	14
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	8	10
Passenger vehicle drivers	3	4
Taxi drivers	3	4
Footnotes: (1) Occupational data are based on the 2018 Standard Occupation Classification (SOC). Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. 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, New Jersey, 2023
Demographic	Number	Percent (%)
Total	81	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	64	79
Self-employed (2)	17	21
Sex
Male	77	95
Female	4	5
Age (3)
Under 16 years	--	--
16 to 17 years	--	--
18 to 19 years	--	--
20 to 24 years	--	--
25 to 34 years	11	14
35 to 44 years	18	22
45 to 54 years	15	19
55 to 64 years	21	26
65 years and over	11	14
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	51	63
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	20	25
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic	--	--
Asian, non-Hispanic	--	--
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	--	--
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. 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.

Last Modified Date: Thursday, March 06, 2025

Mid-Atlantic Information Office

Fatal Work Injuries in New Jersey — 2023