Fatal work injuries totaled 462 in 2021 for California, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the number of work-related fatalities in California was down one from the previous year, which saw a total of 463 fatal work injuries. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 657 in 1993 to a low of 326 in 2010. 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).

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Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, California, 2012–21

Year	Total	Wage and salary	Self-employed
2012	375	302	73
2013	396	339	57
2014	344	275	69
2015	388	329	59
2016	376	309	67
2017	376	301	75
2018	422	350	72
2019	451	351	100
2020	463	380	83
2021	462	379	83

In California, transportation incidents resulted in 142 fatal work injuries and exposure to harmful substances or environments caused 103 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 53 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 122 over the year, while fatal work injuries from exposure to harmful substances or environments were up from 85.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals accounted for 87 fatal work injuries, down from 97 in the prior year. Falls, slips and trips resulted in 78 workplace fatalities, compared to 99 in 2020.

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).

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Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and California, 2021

Event	United States	California
Transportation incidents	38.2	30.7
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	15.4	22.3
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	14.7	18.8
Falls, slips, trips	16.4	16.9
All other	15.4	11.3

The private construction industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in California with 79, down from 92 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Falls, slips, or trips resulted in 33 of the 79 fatalities in the industry. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 42 of the 79 fatal workplace injuries in the construction industry.

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had 58 fatal workplace injuries, down from 59 in the previous year. Transportation incidents accounted for 37 of the 58 fatalities in the industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 26, or 45 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 112, followed by the construction and extraction occupational group with 81. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 48 of the 112 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. Construction laborers suffered 24 of the 81 work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group.

• Men accounted for 92 percent of the work-related fatalities in California, similar to the national share of 91 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 30 percent of the fatalities for men in California.

• Hispanics or Latinos accounted for 51 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 22 percent of work-related deaths.

• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 57 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2021, equal to the national rate.

• Of the 462 fatal work injuries in California, 82 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for both types of workers was transportation incidents.

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 California Department of Industrial Relations 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.

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