Fatal work injuries totaled 75 in 2023 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 5,283 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, Alabama, 2014–23

Year	Total
2014	75
2015	70
2016	100
2017	83
2018	89
2019	89
2020	85
2021	111
2022	74
2023	75
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Transportation incidents (34) were the most frequent type of fatal event in Alabama, accounting for 45 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally the share was 37 percent. (See chart 2 and table 1.)

• Contact incidents (16) accounted for 21 percent of Alabama workplace fatalities; nationally the share was 15 percent.

  

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

Event	United States	Alabama
Transportation incidents	37	45
Contact incidents	15	21
Falls, slips, trips	17	17
Violent acts	14	9
All other	18	7
Note: Percents may not add to total due to rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• The transportation and warehousing sector had the highest number of fatalities with 24. (See table 2.)

• Transportation incidents resulted in 19 of the 24 transportation and warehousing sector fatalities.

• The general freight trucking industry group accounted for 14 of the sector’s fatal workplace injuries.

• The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 29. (See table 3.)

• Transportation incidents resulted in 21 of the transportation and material moving fatalities.

• Motor vehicle operators accounted for 21 of the major group’s fatal workplace injuries.

• Wage and salary workers accounted for 89 percent of workplace fatalities in Alabama; the self-employed comprised the remaining 11 percent. (See table 4.) Nationally, wage and salary workers comprised 83 percent of fatalities.

• Males accounted for 91 percent of the work-related fatalities both in Alabama and nationally.

• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 65 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 29 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 61 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 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 nationally. See the national CFOI release Technical Notes for details on cooperating entities.

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