Fatal Work Injuries in Washington – 2022

Fatal work injuries totaled 104 in 2022 for Washington, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Washington was up 31 from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 128 in 1996 to a low of 56 in 2013. Nationwide, a total of 5,486 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2022, a 5.7-percent increase from 5,190 in 2021, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Number of fatal occupational injuries by employee status, Oregon, 2013–22
Year	Total	Wage and salary	Self-employed
2013	49	41	8
2014	69	52	17
2015	44	32	12
2016	72	58	14
2017	60	47	13
2018	62	52	10
2019	69	55	14
2020	60	46	14
2021	66	56	10
2022	55	40	15

Fatal event or exposure

In Washington, transportation incidents resulted in 32 fatal work injuries and accounted for 31 percent of all fatal workplace injuries. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 30 over the year.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the second-most frequent fatal work event with 23 fatalities, up from 8 in the prior year. Falls, slips, or trips accounted for 19 fatalities, up from 12 in the prior year. Exposure to harmful substances or environments resulted in 16 work-related deaths compared to 13 in 2021.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event in 2022, accounting for 38 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (16 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals and exposure to harmful substances or environments (15 percent each).

View Chart Data

Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Oregon, 2022
Event	United States	Oregon
Transportation incidents	38	46
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	15	18
Contact with objects and equipment	14	18
Falls, slips, trips	16	13
All other	18	6

Industry

The private construction industry sector had the highest number of work-related fatalities in Washington with 26, up from 18 in 2021. (See table 2.) Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 8 of the 26 work-related fatalities. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 15 of the 26 fatal workplace injuries in the construction industry.

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had 16 work-related fatalities, up from 12 in the previous year. Transportation incidents resulted in 11 of the 16 fatalities in the industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 9 of the 16 fatal workplace injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry.

Occupation

The construction and extraction occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 26. (See table 3.) Construction laborers accounted for 13 of the 26 fatalities among construction and extraction workers. The transportation and material moving occupational group had the second-highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 25. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 10 of the 25 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers.

Additional highlights:

Men accounted for 99 percent of the work-related fatalities in Washington, compared to the national share of 92 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 31 percent of the fatalities for men in Washington.
White non-Hispanics accounted for 51 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 58 percent of work-related deaths.
Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 67 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2022, compared to 57 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
Of the 104 fatal work injuries in Washington, 87 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents, while the most frequent fatal event for self-employed workers was falls, slips, and trips.

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 2022 national data, over 27,200 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 and the CFOI definitions.

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 Scope of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries: Concepts.

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 2022, there were 186 cases nationally where this occurred, and 157 of these latent cases occurred more than 30 days prior to the start of 2022. For more information on latent cases, see Understanding latency in fatal occupational injuries.

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 on the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, Compensation, Occupational Requirements, and Work Stoppages Statistics.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Washington Department of Labor and Industries 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, Washington, 2021–22
Event or exposure (1)	2021	2022
Event or exposure (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	73	104	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	8	23	22
Intentional injury by person	--	22	21
Homicides--Intentional injury by other person	--	14	13
Shooting by other person--intentional	--	12	12
Suicides--Self-inflicted injury--intentional	--	8	8
Shooting--intentional self-harm	--	3	3
Hanging, strangulation, asphyxiation--intentional self-harm	--	5	5
Transportation incidents	30	32	31
Aircraft incidents	--	6	6
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	18	23	22
Roadway collision with other vehicle	10	13	13
Roadway collision--moving in same direction	--	3	3
Roadway collision--moving in opposite directions, oncoming	--	5	5
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	3	5	5
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	3	3	3
Roadway noncollision incident	5	5	5
Falls, slips, trips	12	19	18
Falls to lower level	11	16	15
Other fall to lower level	--	13	13
Other fall to lower level 6 to 10 feet	--	3	3
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	13	16	15
Exposure to other harmful substances	10	14	13
Nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol--unintentional overdose	8	14	13
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Washington, 2021–22
Industry (1)	2021	2022
Industry (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	73	104	100
Private Industry (2)	67	95	91
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	12	--	--
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	12	10	10
Crop production	6	4	4
Support activities for agriculture and forestry	--	3	3
Support activities for crop production	--	3	3
Support activities for crop production	--	3	3
Soil preparation, planting, and cultivating	--	1	1
Construction	18	26	25
Construction	18	26	25
Specialty trade contractors	13	15	14
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	6	4	4
Building equipment contractors	--	6	6
Manufacturing	--	5	5
Manufacturing	--	5	5
Service providing (3)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	20	23	22
Wholesale trade	3	3	3
Retail trade	5	4	4
Transportation and warehousing	12	16	15
Truck transportation	9	9	9
General freight trucking	--	6	6
Specialized freight trucking	--	3	3
Transit and ground passenger transportation	--	1	1
Taxi and limousine service	--	1	1
Taxi service	--	1	1
Information	--	--	--
Financial activities	--	--	--
Professional and business services	7	11	11
Professional, scientific, and technical services	--	4	4
Professional, scientific, and technical services	--	4	4
Architectural, engineering, and related services	--	2	2
Engineering services	--	2	2
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	7	7	7
Educational and health services	--	--	--
Health care and social assistance	--	3	3
Leisure and hospitality	--	4	4
Accommodation and food services	--	4	4
Other services, except public administration	5	8	8
Other services, except public administration	5	8	8
Personal and laundry services	--	3	3
Personal care services	--	1	1
Hair, nail, and skin care services	--	1	1
Barber shops	--	1	1
Public administration	--	--	--
Government (4)	--	--	--
Federal government	--	2	2
State government	1	--	--
Local government	4	6	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 concepts page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#industry. (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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Washington, 2021–22
Occupation (1)	2021	2022
Occupation (1)	Number	Number	Percent
Total	73	104	100
Management occupations	--	5	5
Other management occupations	--	3	3
Business and financial operations occupations	--	3	3
Business operations specialists	--	3	3
Life, physical, and social science occupations	--	1	1
Life, physical, and social science technicians	--	1	1
Agricultural and food science technicians	--	1	1
Agricultural technicians	--	1	1
Protective service occupations	6	9	9
Other protective service workers	3	4	4
Security guards and gambling surveillance officers	--	4	4
Security guards	--	4	4
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	5	4	4
Personal care and service occupations	--	1	1
Personal appearance workers	--	1	1
Sales and related occupations	4	3	3
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	7	7	7
Agricultural workers	--	4	4
Miscellaneous agricultural workers	--	4	4
Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse	--	4	4
Construction and extraction occupations	13	26	25
Construction trades workers	11	23	22
Construction laborers	6	13	13
Construction laborers	6	13	13
Electricians	--	3	3
Electricians	--	3	3
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	9	4	4
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers	--	4	4
Production occupations	--	4	4
Transportation and material moving occupations	19	25	24
Air transportation workers	--	4	4
Motor vehicle operators	16	16	15
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	--	15	14
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	--	10	10
Passenger vehicle drivers	--	1	1
Taxi drivers	--	1	1
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 these years, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#occupation. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
NOTE: Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Washington, 2021–22
Worker characteristics	2021	2022
Worker characteristics	Number	Number	Percent
Total	73	104	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	62	90	87
Self-employed (2)	11	14	13
Gender
Men	65	103	99
Women	8	--	--
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	--	6	6
25 to 34 years	13	20	19
35 to 44 years	14	28	27
45 to 54 years	14	22	21
55 to 64 years	18	20	19
65 years and over	--	7	7
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	48	53	51
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	6	6
Hispanic or Latino	16	24	23
Asian, non-Hispanic	3	--	--
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
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 revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. N.e.c. means "not elsewhere classified." CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Last Modified Date: Friday, February 23, 2024

Western Information Office

Fatal Work Injuries in Washington – 2022