Fatal Work Injuries in Iowa — 2022

Fatal work injuries totaled 56 in 2022 for Iowa, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Iowa was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 110 in 1992 to a low of 49 in 2021. Nationwide, a total of 5,486 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2022, a 5.7-percent increase from 5,190 in 2021, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, Iowa, 2013–22

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Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, Iowa, 2013–22
Year	Total	Wage and salary	Self-employed
2013	72	48	24
2014	91	50	41
2015	60	42	18
2016	76	55	21
2017	72	54	18
2018	77	51	26
2019	76	53	23
2020	58	42	16
2021	49	38	11
2022	56	45	11

Fatal event or exposure

In Iowa, transportation incidents resulted in 36 fatal work injuries, accounting for 64 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 25 over the year.

Falls, slips, and trips and contact with objects and equipment had eight and seven workplace fatalities, respectively. Worker deaths from falls, slips, and trips were up from seven over the year.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in 2022, accounting for 38 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (16 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals along with exposure to harmful substances or environments (15 percent each).

Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Iowa, 2022

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Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Iowa, 2022
Event	United States	Iowa
Transportation incidents	38	64
Falls, slips, trips	16	14
Contact with objects and equipment	14	13
All other	33	9

Industry

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Iowa with 17, up from 13 in the previous year. (See table 2.) The general freight trucking industry group accounted for 12 of the 17 fatal workplace injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry.

The private agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry sector had 8 fatal workplace injuries, down from 11 in the previous year. The oilseed and grain farming industry group accounted for five, or 63 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 22. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers suffered 15 of the work-related deaths within the transportation and material moving group. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second-highest number of fatal workplace injuries with eight, followed by management occupations, with seven. Construction trades workers suffered 5 of the 8 work-related deaths within the construction and extraction workers group.

Additional highlights

Men accounted for 95 percent of the work-related fatalities in Iowa, similar to the national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 66 percent of the fatalities for men in Iowa.
White non-Hispanics accounted for 63 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 58 percent of work-related deaths.
Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 43 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2022, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
Of the 56 fatal work injuries in Iowa, 80 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 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 2022 national data, over 27,200 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 and the CFOI definitions.

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 Scope of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries: Concepts.

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 2022, there were 186 cases nationally where this occurred, and 157 of these latent cases occurred more than 30 days prior to the start of 2022. For more information on latent cases, see Understanding latency in fatal occupational injuries.

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 on the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, Compensation, Occupational Requirements, and Work Stoppages Statistics.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Iowa Division of Labor 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, Iowa, 2021–22
Event or exposure (1)	2021	2022
Event or exposure (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	49	56	100
Transportation incidents	25	36	64
Pedestrian vehicular incident	--	5	9
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	20	24	43
Roadway collision with other vehicle	5	11	20
Roadway collision--moving in same direction	--	3	5
Roadway collision--moving perpendicularly	--	5	9
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	5	5	9
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	5	3	5
Roadway noncollision incident	10	8	14
Jack-knifed or overturned, roadway	9	7	13
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	3	4	7
Nonroadway noncollision incident	3	3	5
Fall or jump from and struck by same vehicle in normal operation, nonroadway	--	1	2
Falls, slips, trips	7	8	14
Falls to lower level	5	6	11
Other fall to lower level	--	6	11
Contact with objects and equipment	--	7	13
Struck by object or equipment	--	3	5
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 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. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Iowa, 2021–22
Industry (1)	2021	2022
Industry (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	49	56	100
Private Industry (2)	45	52	93
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	11	8	14
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	11	8	14
Crop production	4	5	9
Oilseed and grain farming	4	5	9
Corn farming	4	5	9
Animal production and aquaculture	4	2	4
Cattle ranching and farming	1	2	4
Support activities for agriculture and forestry	2	1	2
Support activities for crop production	2	1	2
Support activities for crop production	2	1	2
Soil preparation, planting, and cultivating	--	1	2
Construction	7	6	11
Construction	7	6	11
Heavy and civil engineering construction	1	3	5
Specialty trade contractors	5	3	5
Manufacturing	5	4	7
Manufacturing	5	4	7
Service providing (3)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	16	23	41
Wholesale trade	1	4	7
Retail trade	2	2	4
Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers	1	1	2
Lawn and garden equipment and supplies stores	1	1	2
General merchandise stores	--	1	2
General merchandise stores, including warehouse clubs and supercenters	--	1	2
General merchandise stores, including warehouse clubs and supercenters	--	1	2
Transportation and warehousing	13	17	30
Truck transportation	11	14	25
General freight trucking	8	12	21
General freight trucking, long-distance	4	8	14
General freight trucking, long-distance, truckload	--	3	5
Financial activities	--	1	2
Real estate and rental and leasing	--	1	2
Rental and leasing services	--	1	2
Automotive equipment rental and leasing	--	1	2
Passenger car rental and leasing	--	1	2
Passenger car rental	--	1	2
Professional and business services	--	3	5
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	--	3	5
Educational and health services	--	4	7
Educational services	--	1	2
Educational services	--	1	2
Other schools and instruction	--	1	2
All other schools and instruction	--	1	2
Automobile driving schools	--	1	2
Health care and social assistance	--	3	5
Nursing and residential care facilities	--	1	2
Nursing care facilities--skilled nursing facilities	--	1	2
Nursing care facilities--skilled nursing facilities	--	1	2
Leisure and hospitality	2	1	2
Accommodation and food services	1	1	2
Food services and drinking places	--	1	2
Restaurants and other eating places	--	1	2
Restaurants and other eating places	--	1	2
Full-service restaurants	--	1	2
Government (4)	4	4	7
State government	4	1	2
Local government	--	3	5
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) 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 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. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Iowa, 2021–22
Occupation (1)	2021	2022
Occupation (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	49	56	100
Management occupations	6	7	13
Educational instruction and library occupations	--	1	2
Other teachers and instructors	--	1	2
Miscellaneous teachers and instructors	--	1	2
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	--	1	2
Healthcare diagnosing or treating practitioners	--	1	2
Nurse practitioners	--	1	2
Nurse practitioners	--	1	2
Food preparation and serving related occupations	--	1	2
Food and beverage serving workers	--	1	2
Waiters and waitresses	--	1	2
Waiters and waitresses	--	1	2
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	4	4	7
Grounds maintenance workers	3	4	7
Grounds maintenance workers	3	4	7
Tree trimmers and pruners	--	1	2
Sales and related occupations	2	2	4
Retail sales workers	2	1	2
Counter and rental clerks and parts salespersons	--	1	2
Other sales and related workers	--	1	2
Miscellaneous sales and related workers	--	1	2
Office and administrative support occupations	1	1	2
Other office and administrative support workers	--	1	2
Office clerks, general	--	1	2
Office clerks, general	--	1	2
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	2	1	2
Agricultural workers	1	1	2
Miscellaneous agricultural workers	1	1	2
Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse	--	1	2
Construction and extraction occupations	7	8	14
Construction trades workers	7	5	9
Brickmasons, blockmasons, and stonemasons	--	1	2
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	4	4	7
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3	4	7
Maintenance and repair workers, general	--	1	2
Maintenance and repair workers, general	--	1	2
Miscellaneous installation, maintenance, and repair workers	--	3	5
Transportation and material moving occupations	18	22	39
Motor vehicle operators	17	19	34
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	17	16	29
Driver/sales workers	--	1	2
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	17	15	27
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 our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#occupation. 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. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Iowa, 2021–22
Worker characteristics	2021	2022
Worker characteristics	Number	Number	Percent
Total	49	56	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	38	45	80
Self-employed (2)	11	11	20
Gender
Men	45	53	95
Women	4	3	5
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	2	4	7
25 to 34 years	4	8	14
35 to 44 years	10	5	9
45 to 54 years	17	11	20
55 to 64 years	10	16	29
65 years and over	5	12	21
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	38	35	63
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	5	9
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. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Last Modified Date: Thursday, March 07, 2024

Midwest Information Office

Fatal Work Injuries in Iowa — 2022