Fatal work injuries totaled 53 in 2023 for Kansas, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Michael Hirniak noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Kansas was similar to the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 106 in 1994 to a low of 52 in 2022. 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).

  

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Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, Kansas, 2014–23

Year	Total	Wage and salary	Self-employed
2014	73	55	18
2015	60	39	21
2016	74	53	21
2017	72	49	23
2018	61	41	20
2019	83	61	22
2020	55	44	11
2021	63	54	9
2022	52	44	8
2023	53	40	13
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Transportation incidents (37) were the most frequent type of fatal event in Kansas, accounting for 70 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally the share was 37 percent. (See chart 2 and table 1.)

• Falls, slips, and trips (6) accounted for 11 percent of Kansas workplace fatalities; nationally the share was 17 percent.

  

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Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Kansas, 2023

Event	United States	Kansas
Transportation incidents	37	70
Falls, slips, trips	17	11
Exposure to harmful substances, environments	16	9
Contact incidents	15	6
All other	16	4
Note: Percents may not add to total due to rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector had nine fatalities. (See table 2.) The crop production subsector accounted for five of the sector’s fatal workplace injuries.

• The transportation and warehousing sector also had nine fatal work injuries. (See table 2.)

• The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 23. (See table 3.)

• Transportation incidents resulted in 20 of the transportation and material moving fatalities.

• Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 15 of the major group’s fatal workplace injuries.

• Wage and salary workers accounted for 75 percent of workplace fatalities in Kansas; the self-employed comprised the remaining 25 percent. (See chart 1 and table 4.) Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers as well as self-employed workers. Nationally, wage and salary workers comprised 83 percent of fatalities.

• Males accounted for 94 percent of the work-related fatalities in Kanas, compared to 91 percent nationally.

• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 45 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally. Workers 55 years and older accounted for 49 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2023, compared to 35 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 75 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 56 percent of work-related deaths.

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 Kansas Labor Market Information Services 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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