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News Release Information

22-383-ATL
Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (404) 893-4220

Fatal Occupational Injuries in Tennessee — 2020

Fatal work injuries totaled 142 in 2020 for Tennessee, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Tennessee was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 179 in 1995 to a low of 95 in 2013.

Nationwide, a total of 4,764 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2020, an 11-percent decrease from 5,333 in 2019, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in 2020 represents the lowest annual number since 2013. 


Fatal event or exposure

In Tennessee, transportation incidents resulted in 57 fatal work injuries, and violence and other injuries by persons or animals accounted for 29 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 61 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were similar over the year, while worker fatalities due to violence and other injuries by persons or animals were up from 17.

Falls, slips, and trips and exposure to harmful substances or environments each resulted in 20 fatal work injuries in 2020, followed by contact with objects and equipment with 16 fatal work injuries.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2020, accounting for 37 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent).


Industry

The private construction industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Tennessee with 38, up from 28 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 12 of the 38 fatalities in the industry. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 28 of the 38 fatal workplace injuries in the construction industry.

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had 30 fatal workplace injuries, up from 22 in the previous year. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 24, 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 47. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 33 of the 47 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 32. Construction laborers suffered 10 of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights
  • Men accounted for 87 percent of the work-related fatalities in Tennessee, compared to 92 percent nationwide. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 41 percent of the fatalities for men in Tennessee.

  • White non-Hispanics accounted for 68 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 61 percent of work-related deaths.

  • Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 63 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2020, compared to 56 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

  • Of the 142 fatal work injuries in Tennessee, 87 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers and for self-employed workers.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on 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.


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 2020 national data, over 21,600 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/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 Tennessee Department of Labor and 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 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, Tennessee, 2019–20
Event or exposure (1)20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

124142100

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals

172920

Intentional injury by person

132920

Intentional injury by other person

92518

Transportation incidents

585740

Pedestrian vehicular incident

10107

Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle

374431

Roadway collision with other vehicle

232316

Roadway collision with object other than vehicle

121611

Roadway noncollision incident

254

Fires and explosions

------

Falls, slips, trips

162014

Falls to lower level

141511

Other fall to lower level

--128

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

--2014

Exposure to electricity

--96

Exposure to other harmful substances

--118

Contact with objects and equipment

181611

Struck by object or equipment

1296

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 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, Tennessee, 2019–20
Industry (1)20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

124142100

Private industry (2)

11413796

Goods producing

------

Natural resources and mining

1475

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

1375

Construction

283827

Construction

283827

Construction of buildings

--54

Heavy and civil engineering construction

754

Specialty trade contractors

--2820

Manufacturing

--128

Service providing (3)

------

Trade, transportation, and utilities

335035

Wholesale trade

354

Retail trade

81511

Transportation and warehousing

223021

Truck transportation

152417

Information

------

Financial activities

------

Professional and business services

14118

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

13118

Administrative and support services

9107

Educational and health services

321

Health care and social assistance

321

Leisure and hospitality

4----

Accommodation and food services

475

Other services, except public administration

586

Government (4)

1054

Federal government

------

State government

2----

Local government

854

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 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 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, Tennessee, 2019–20
Occupation (1)20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

124142100

Management occupations

8----

Business and financial operations occupations

------

Computer and mathematical occupations

------

Architecture and engineering occupations

------

Life, physical, and social science occupations

1----

Community and social service occupations

1----

Legal occupations

------

Educational instruction and library occupations

------

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

------

Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations

------

Healthcare support occupations

--21

Protective service occupations

854

Food preparation and serving related occupations

--86

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

664

Personal care and service occupations

232

Sales and related occupations

696

Office and administrative support occupations

321

Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations

643

Construction and extraction occupations

313223

Supervisors of construction and extraction workers

454

Construction trades workers

242215

Construction laborers

6107

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

7118

Production occupations

796

Transportation and material moving occupations

344733

Motor vehicle operators

263927

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

253827

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers

--3323

Material moving workers

--43

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 www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.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 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, Tennessee, 2019–20
Worker characteristics20192020
NumberNumberPercent

Total

124142100

Employee status

Wage and salary workers (1)

9512387

Self-employed (2)

291913

Gender

Men

11712387

Women

71913

Age (3)

16 to 17 years

--11

18 to 19 years

111

20 to 24 years

71410

25 to 34 years

232820

35 to 44 years

283223

45 to 54 years

233021

55 to 64 years

242215

65 years and over

181410

Race or ethnic origin (4)

White, non-Hispanic

849668

Black or African-American, non-Hispanic

211913

Hispanic or Latino

162316

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 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.

 

Last Modified Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2022