Fatal work injuries totaled 111 in 2021 for Alabama, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Alabama was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 155 in 1996 to a low of 70 in 2015.

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 Alabama, transportation incidents resulted in 42 fatal work injuries and accounted for 38 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 43 over the year.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the second-most frequent fatal work event with 22 fatalities, followed by falls, slips, and trips with 20 fatalities. Worker deaths from violence and other injuries by persons or animals were up from 15 over the year, while worker fatalities due to falls, slips, and trips were up from 7.

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 transportation and warehousing industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Alabama with 25, up from 18 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 21 of the 25 fatalities in the industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 16 of the 25 fatal workplace injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry.

The private construction industry sector had 22 fatal workplace injuries, up from 19 in the previous year. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 13, or 59 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 42. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 22 of the 42 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second-highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 23. Construction trades workers suffered 17 of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights

Men accounted for 96 percent of the work-related fatalities in Alabama, compared to the national rate of 91 percent. (See table 4.) Contact with objects and equipment made up 16 percent of the fatalities for men in Alabama.

White non-Hispanics accounted for 70 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 60 percent of work-related deaths.

Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 60 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2021, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

Of the 111 fatal work injuries in Alabama, 94 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Transportation incidents accounted for 40 of the 104 fatalities among wage and salary workers.

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 Alabama Department 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, Alabama, 2020–21

Event or exposure (1)	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	85	111	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	15	22	20
Intentional injury by person	--	21	19
Transportation incidents	43	42	38
Aircraft incidents	--	3	3
Rail vehicle incidents	--	4	4
Pedestrian vehicular incident	5	9	8
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	29	25	23
Roadway collision with other vehicle	15	9	8
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	11	12	11
Roadway noncollision incident	3	4	4
Fires and explosions	--	--	--
Falls, slips, trips	7	20	18
Falls to lower level	7	18	16
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	--	10	9
Exposure to electricity	--	5	5
Exposure to other harmful substances	--	4	4
Contact with objects and equipment	17	17	15
Struck by object or equipment	11	10	9
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	5	6	5
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/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, Alabama, 2020–21

Industry (1)	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	85	111	100
Private industry (2)	73	100	90
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	7	4	4
Construction	19	22	20
Construction	19	22	20
Heavy and civil engineering construction	--	4	4
Specialty trade contractors	10	13	12
Manufacturing	7	17	15
Service providing (3)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	25	--	--
Utilities	1	4	4
Wholesale trade	3	6	5
Transportation and warehousing	18	25	23
Truck transportation	14	16	14
Support activities for transportation	--	6	5
Information	--	--	--
Financial activities	--	--	--
Professional and business services	--	--	--
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	6	7	6
Educational and health services	3	--	--
Leisure and hospitality	--	--	--
Accommodation and food services	--	3	3
Other services, except public administration	4	4	4
Government (4)	--	--	--
Federal government	6	1	1
State government	--	2	2
Local government	5	7	6
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/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) 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/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, Alabama, 2020–21

Occupation (1)	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	85	111	100
Management occupations	3	1	1
Business and financial operations occupations	1	--	--
Computer and mathematical occupations	--	--	--
Architecture and engineering occupations	--	--	--
Life, physical, and social science occupations	--	--	--
Community and social service occupations	--	--	--
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	--	--	--
Food preparation and serving related occupations	--	--	--
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	5	3	3
Personal care and service occupations	--	--	--
Sales and related occupations	--	1	1
Office and administrative support occupations	--	--	--
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	3	--	--
Construction and extraction occupations	12	23	21
Construction trades workers	--	17	15
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	7	14	13
Production occupations	3	9	8
Transportation and material moving occupations	32	42	38
Motor vehicle operators	26	28	25
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	26	28	25
Driver/sales workers	--	3	3
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	23	22	20
Light truck drivers	--	3	3
Material moving workers	4	9	8
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/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 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, Alabama, 2020–21

Worker characteristics	2020	2021
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	85	111	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	76	104	94
Self-employed (2)	9	7	6
Gender
Men	76	107	96
Women	9	4	4
Age (3)
25 to 34 years	15	29	26
35 to 44 years	19	23	21
45 to 54 years	20	15	14
55 to 64 years	21	25	23
65 years and over	4	14	13
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	53	78	70
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	22	23	21
Hispanic or Latino	--	--	--
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/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.