Fatal work injuries totaled 39 in 2021 for Nebraska, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Nebraska was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 83, occurring in 1994 and 2002, to a low of 35 in 2017.

Nationwide, a total of 5,190 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2021, a 9-percent increase from 4,764 in 2020, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Fatal event or exposure

In Nebraska, transportation incidents resulted in 24 fatal work injuries, accounting for 62 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 26 over the year. Contact with objects or equipment was the second-most frequent fatal work event with 6 fatalities, down from 10 in the prior year. Falls, slips, or trips resulted in four work-related deaths.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in 2021, accounting for 38 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (16 percent), followed by both exposure to harmful substances or environments and violence and other injuries by persons or animals (15 percent each) and contact with objects and equipment (14 percent).

Industry

The private agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry sector had 10 fatalities in Nebraska, down from 20 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 6 of the 10 fatalities in the industry. The cattle ranching and farming industry group accounted for 4 of the 10 fatal workplace injuries in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry.

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had 10 fatal workplace injuries, the same as the previous year. The truck transportation subsector accounted for eight, or 80 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 16, up from 14 the previous year. (See table 3.) The management occupational group and the construction and extraction occupational group had the second-highest number of fatal workplace injuries with six each. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers suffered five of the work-related deaths within the management occupational group. Construction trades workers accounted for the six construction and extraction fatalities.

Additional highlights

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 67 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. (See table 4.) Nationwide, this group accounted for 60 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 62 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2021, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• Of the 39 fatal work injuries in Nebraska, 77 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for both 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 fatalities resulting from workplace 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 2021 national data, over 23,900 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 at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm and the CFOI definitions at www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/occupational-safety-and-health-definitions.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/overview/cfoi-scope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Latency Cases. Latent fatal occupational injury cases occur when the date of injury differs from the date of death. In some cases, the death occurs in a different year than the occupational injury and are known as cross-year latent cases. In 2021, there were 197 cases nationally where this occurred, and 174 of these latent cases occurred more than 30 days prior to the start of 2021. For more information on latent cases, see www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-10/latency-in-fatal-occupational-injuries.htm.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. CFOI reports fatal workplace injuries only. These may include fatal workplace injuries complicated by an illness such as COVID-19. Fatal workplace illnesses not precipitated by an injury are not in scope for CFOI. CFOI does not report any illness related information, including COVID-19. Additional information is available at www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-on-workplace-injuries-and-illnesses-compensation-and-occupational-requirements.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court 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; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Nebraska, 2020–21

Event or exposure (1)	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	48	39	100
Transportation incidents	26	24	62
Rail vehicle incidents	--	1	3
Collision between rail vehicle and another vehicle	--	1	3
Collision between rail and roadway vehicles	--	1	3
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	18	20	51
Roadway collision with other vehicle	12	15	38
Roadway collision--moving in same direction	1	2	5
Roadway collision--moving in opposite directions, oncoming	7	6	15
Roadway collision--moving perpendicularly	4	6	15
Roadway collision--moving and standing vehicle in roadway	--	1	3
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	3	3	8
Falls, slips, trips	--	4	10
Falls to lower level	--	4	10
Fall through surface or existing opening	--	1	3
Fall through surface or existing opening 11 to 15 feet	--	1	3
Contact with objects and equipment	10	6	15
Struck by object or equipment	8	4	10
Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport	6	1	3
Caught between rolling powered vehicle and other object	--	1	3
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	--	3	8
Struck by object falling from vehicle or machinery--other than vehicle part	--	1	3
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	--	1	3
Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment	--	1	3
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	--	1	3
Struck, caught, or crushed in other collapsing structure or equipment	--	1	3
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/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.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, Nebraska, 2020–21

Industry (1)	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	48	39	100
Private industry (2)	44	36	92
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	20	11	28
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	20	10	26
Animal production and aquaculture	9	4	10
Cattle ranching and farming	9	4	10
Beef cattle ranching and farming, including feedlots	9	4	10
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (3)	--	1	3
Mining (except oil and gas)	--	1	3
Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying	--	1	3
Sand, gravel, clay, and ceramic and refractory minerals mining and quarrying	--	1	3
Construction sand and gravel mining	--	1	3
Construction	4	8	21
Construction	4	8	21
Construction of buildings	--	4	10
Residential building construction	--	1	3
Residential building construction	--	1	3
Residential remodelers	--	1	3
Nonresidential building construction	--	1	3
Commercial and institutional building construction	--	1	3
Manufacturing	1	1	3
Manufacturing	1	1	3
Plastics and rubber products manufacturing	--	1	3
Service providing (4)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--	--
Wholesale trade	1	3	8
Transportation and warehousing	10	10	26
Truck transportation	7	8	21
General freight trucking	4	5	13
General freight trucking, local	1	2	5
General freight trucking, long-distance	3	3	8
Specialized freight trucking	3	3	8
Used household and office goods moving	--	1	3
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local	3	2	5
Transit and ground passenger transportation	--	1	3
Taxi and limousine service	--	1	3
Couriers and messengers	--	1	3
Couriers and express delivery services	--	1	3
Couriers and express delivery services	--	1	3
Government (5)	4	3	8
Federal government	--	2	5
State government	--	1	3
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/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm. Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts. Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts. (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/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.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, Nebraska, 2020–21

Occupation (1)	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	48	39	100
Management occupations	17	6	15
Other management occupations	17	6	15
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	17	5	13
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers	17	5	13
Construction and extraction occupations	5	6	15
Construction trades workers	4	6	15
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	2	3	8
Transportation and material moving occupations	14	16	41
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/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.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/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.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, Nebraska, 2020–21

Worker characteristics	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	48	39	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	28	30	77
Self-employed (2)	20	9	23
Gender
Men	46	--	--
Women	2	--	--
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	2	2	5
25 to 34 years	8	7	18
35 to 44 years	6	8	21
45 to 54 years	3	9	23
55 to 64 years	12	7	18
65 years and over	17	5	13
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	42	26	67
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	--	9	23
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/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.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.