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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Geographic Information > Mid-Atlantic > News Release
News Release Information

26-568-PHI
Tuesday, March 24, 2026

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Fatal Work Injuries in West Virginia — 2024

Fatal work injuries totaled 40 in 2024 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 31.0 percent from 58 in 2023. (See chart 1.) The fatal work injury rate was 5.8 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2024, a decrease from a rate of 8.3 in 2023. Nationwide, a total of 5,070 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2024, a 4.0-percent decrease from 5,283 in 2023. These data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Fatal event or exposure

  • Transportation incidents (16) were the most frequent type of fatal event in West Virginia, accounting for 40 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally the share was 38 percent. Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 22 over the year (See chart 2 and table 1.)

  • Contact incidents (9) accounted for 23 percent of West Virginia worker fatalities; nationally the share was 15 percent.

  • West Virginia’s decrease in fatal injuries in 2024 was largely driven by a 76 percent drop in fatalities due to exposure to harmful substances or environments (to 4 cases from 17).

Private industry

  • The agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector tied for the highest number of fatalities with 7. (See table 2.) Contact incidents resulted in 5 of the 7 agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector fatalities. The forestry and logging subsector accounted for 5 of the sector’s fatal workplace injuries.

  • The administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector also had 7 fatalities. (See table 2.) Within the sector, transportation incidents resulted in four fatal workplace injuries.

 

Occupation

  • Construction and extraction workers experienced the largest decrease (-6) in fatal work injuries over the year among the major occupational groups. (See table 3.)

  • The farming, fishing, and forestry occupational group tied with building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations for the highest number of fatal workplace injuries, with 6 each. Contact incidents accounted for 5 of the fatalities among farming, fishing, and forestry workers.

Worker characteristics

  • Wage and salary workers accounted for 88 percent of fatal workplace injuries in West Virginia. (See chart 1 and table 4.) Nationally, wage and salary workers comprised 82 percent of fatalities.

  • Females accounted for 15 percent of the work-related fatalities in West Virginia; nationally the share was 8 percent. Fatal workplace injuries among male workers declined 34 percent over the year, from 53 in 2023 to 34 in 2024.

  • White non-Hispanics accounted for 90 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 56 percent of work-related deaths.

  • Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 65 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.


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. Note that percentages may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks WorkForce West Virginia 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.

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Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, West Virginia, 2023–24
Event or Exposure (1)20232024
NumberNumberPercent (%)

All events and exposures

5840100

Violent acts

--513

Transportation incidents

221640

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

16820

Roadway noncollision incident

6410

Falls, slips, trips

--410

Exposure to harmful substances, environments

17410

Exposure to harmful substances

11410

Drug, alcohol overdose

11410

Contact incidents

13923

Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object

9615

Struck by falling object

6410

Footnotes:
(1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) version 3 implemented for 2023 data forward.

Note: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. 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, West Virginia, 2023–24
Industry20232024
NumberNumberPercent (%)

Total

5840100

Private industry (1)

553690

Natural resources and mining

81333

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

3718

Forestry and logging

--513

Logging

--410

Logging

--410

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

5615

Mining (except oil and gas)

--38

Construction

1038

Construction

1038

Manufacturing

------

Trade, transportation, and utilities

------

Transportation and warehousing

15513

Truck transportation

12410

General freight trucking

8410

Support activities for transportation

313

Support activities for road transportation

--13

Motor vehicle towing

--13

Information

------

Financial activities

------

Professional and business services

--718

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

7718

Educational and health services

3----

Leisure and hospitality

------

Other services (except public administration)

------

Government (2)

3410

Federal government

------

State government

2----

Local government

1----

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: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. 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, West Virginia, 2023–24
Occupation (1)20232024
NumberNumberPercent (%)

All occupations

5840100

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

--615

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

3615

Construction and extraction occupations

11513

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

538

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 these years, see the CFOI definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm). Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.

Note: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. 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, West Virginia, 2023–24
Demographic20232024
NumberNumberPercent (%)

Total

5840100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

533588

Self-employed (2)

5513

Sex

Male

533485

Female

5615

Age (3)

Under 16 years

------

16 to 17 years

------

18 to 19 years

4----

20 to 24 years

3----

25 to 34 years

12820

35 to 44 years

121025

45 to 54 years

13820

55 to 64 years

7820

65 years and over

7410

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

533690

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

------

Hispanic or Latino

------

American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic

------

Asian, non-Hispanic

------

Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic

------

Person of multiple races, non-Hispanic

------

Other or not reported, 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: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. 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: Tuesday, March 24, 2026