Fatal work injuries totaled 76 in 2019 for Iowa, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Iowa was similar to the previous year. The state's fatal occupational injuries have ranged from a high of 110 in 1992 to a low of 54 in 1995.

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 Iowa, transportation incidents resulted in 32 fatal work injuries, and contact with objects and equipment accounted for 14 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 61 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 30 over the year, and worker fatalities due to contact with objects and equipment were down from 17.

Violence and other injuries by person or animals was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 10 fatalities, up from 6 in the prior year. Exposure to harmful substances and environments resulted in 9 work-related deaths compared to 11 in 2018.

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 agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry had the highest number of fatalities in Iowa with 19. (See table 2.) Contact with objects and equipment resulted in 6 of the 19 fatalities in the industry. The crop production sector accounted for 10 of the 19 workplace fatalities in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry.

The transportation and warehousing industry had 14 workplace fatalities. The general freight trucking sector accounted for 10, or 71 percent, of this industry's fatal injuries.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 22. (See table 3.) Motor vehicle operators accounted for 19 of the 22 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. The management occupational group had the second-highest number of workplace fatalities with 14, followed by construction and extraction occupations with 9. Supervisors of construction and extraction workers accounted for 5 of the 9 construction and extraction occupational fatalities.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 89 percent of the work-related fatalities in Iowa, compared to the national share of 92 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 41 percent of the fatalities for men in Iowa.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 88 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 42 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2019, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

• Of the 76 fatal work injuries in Iowa, 70 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers and self-employed 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 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 thanks the Iowa Workforce Development 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 sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

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

Event or exposure (1)	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	77	76	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	6	10	13
Intentional injury by person	4	6	8
Intentional injury by other person	2	3	4
Shooting by other person--intentional	1	2	3
Multiple violent acts by other person	--	1	1
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	--	3	4
Shooting--intentional self-harm	--	3	4
Animal and insect related incidents	--	4	5
Bites and stings	--	1	1
Stings and venomous bites	--	1	1
Struck by animal	--	3	4
Gored or rammed by animal	--	1	1
Transportation incidents	30	32	42
Pedestrian vehicular incident	4	4	5
Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area	4	3	4
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	16	22	29
Roadway collision with other vehicle	14	12	16
Roadway collision--moving in opposite directions, oncoming	4	3	4
Roadway collision--moving perpendicularly	4	6	8
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	--	4	5
Roadway noncollision incident	2	6	8
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	6	4	5
Nonroadway noncollision incident	5	4	5
Fires and explosions	1	4	5
Falls, slips, trips	12	7	9
Falls to lower level	10	4	5
Other fall to lower level	8	3	4
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	11	9	12
Exposure to other harmful substances	7	5	7
Inhalation of harmful substance	--	3	4
Contact with objects and equipment	17	14	18
Struck by object or equipment	11	8	11
Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport	4	4	5
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	6	4	5
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	--	3	4
Caught in running equipment or machinery	--	3	4
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	4	3	4
Engulfment in other collapsing material	2	3	4
Overexertion and bodily reaction	--	--	--
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, Iowa, 2019

Industry (1)	Number	Percent
Total	76	100
Private industry (2)	73	96
Goods producing	--	--
Natural resources and mining	19	25
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	19	25
Crop production	10	13
Oilseed and grain farming	8	11
Corn farming	6	8
Animal production and aquaculture	6	8
Cattle ranching and farming	4	5
Construction	7	9
Construction	7	9
Service providing (3)	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	22	29
Wholesale trade	5	7
Merchant wholesalers, durable goods	3	4
Retail trade	3	4
Miscellaneous store retailers	1	1
Used merchandise stores	1	1
Used merchandise stores	1	1
Transportation and warehousing	14	18
Truck transportation	12	16
General freight trucking	10	13
General freight trucking, local	6	8
Financial activities	--	--
Professional and business services	7	9
Professional, scientific, and technical services	1	1
Professional, scientific, and technical services	1	1
Computer systems design and related services	1	1
Computer systems design and related services	1	1
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	6	8
Educational and health services	--	--
Leisure and hospitality	--	--
Other services, except public administration	4	5
Other services, except public administration	4	5
Personal and laundry services	1	1
Personal care services	1	1
Hair, nail, and skin care services	1	1
Beauty salons	1	1
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations	1	1
Religious organizations	1	1
Religious organizations	1	1
Government (4)	3	4
Federal government	1	1
State government	1	1
Local government	1	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 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. (4) 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, Iowa, 2019

Occupation (1)	Number	Percent
Total	76	100
Management occupations	14	18
Business and financial operations occupations	--	--
Computer and mathematical occupations	1	1
Computer specialists	1	1
Computer occupations	1	1
Computer support specialists	1	1
Computer user support specialists	1	1
Architecture and engineering occupations	--	--
Life, physical, and social science occupations	--	--
Community and social service occupations	1	1
Religious workers	1	1
Clergy	1	1
Clergy	1	1
Legal occupations	--	--
Educational instruction and library occupations	--	--
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	--	--
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	--	--
Healthcare support occupations	--	--
Protective service occupations	2	3
Supervisors of protective service workers	1	1
First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers	1	1
First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers	1	1
Law enforcement workers	1	1
Police officers	1	1
Food preparation and serving related occupations	--	--
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	--	--
Personal care and service occupations	--	--
Sales and related occupations	4	5
Office and administrative support occupations	3	4
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	8	11
Agricultural workers	6	8
Miscellaneous agricultural workers	6	8
Farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquacultural animals	3	4
Construction and extraction occupations	9	12
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	5	7
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	5	7
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	5	7
Construction trades workers	4	5
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	6	8
Production occupations	--	--
Transportation and material moving occupations	22	29
Air transportation workers	1	1
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	1	1
Commercial pilots	1	1
Motor vehicle operators	19	25
Military specific occupations (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. (2) Includes fatal injuries to persons identified as resident armed forces regardless of individual occupation listed.
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, Iowa, 2018–19

Worker characteristics	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	77	76	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	51	53	70
Self-employed (2)	26	23	30
Gender
Men	74	68	89
Women	3	8	11
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	--	6	8
25 to 34 years	8	9	12
35 to 44 years	10	9	12
45 to 54 years	16	14	18
55 to 64 years	27	18	24
65 years and over	13	18	24
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	57	67	88
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	5	6	8
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.