U.S. workplace fatalities fall almost 4% in 2023

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by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) ago 2 views 

There were 5,283 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2023, down 3.7% compared with the 5,486 fatal injuries in 2022, according to a report posted Thursday (Dec. 19) by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The fatal rate was 3.5 workers per 100,000.

The data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) showed that a worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022. Transportation incidents were the most frequent type of fatal event, accounting for 36.8%, or 1,942, of all occupational fatalities in 2023.

Fatalities due to violent acts totaled 740 in 2023. The 458 homicides accounted for 61.9% of violent acts and 8.7% of all work-related fatalities. Opioids were the primary source of 162 fatalities and a contributor in an additional 144 fatalities where multiple drugs were the source.

The fatal injury count and rate for Black or African American workers decreased from 2022 to 2023. The count dropped 10.2% from 734 in 2022 to 659 in 2023 and the rate dropped from 4.2 to 3.6 cases per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. The fatal injury rate for Hispanic or Latino workers decreased from 2022 to 2023, down from 4.6 to 4.4 cases per 100,000 FTE workers.

Following are other data in the BLS report.
• Women accounted for 8.5%, or 447, of all fatalities, but accounted for 18.3%, or 84, of homicides in 2023. Women had the highest number of fatalities in the private health care and social assistance industry sector (63), followed by the retail trade sector (59).

• Workers ages 55 to 64 continued to have the highest number of fatalities in 2023 with 1,089, or 20.6%, of total fatalities). Transportation incidents were the highest cause of fatalities for this age group (401), followed by falls, slips, and trips (226).

• Construction had the most fatalities (1,075) among all industry sectors in 2023, and was the highest for the sector going back to 2011. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 39.2%, or 421, of all construction fatalities, with transportation incidents accounting for another 22.3%, or 240 of fatalities.

• Workers in transportation and material moving occupations represented the occupational group with the most fatalities (1,495) in 2023. However, fatalities for this group declined 7.7% from 2022, driven by an 11.9% decrease in fatal injuries to heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.

• Fatalities among protective service occupations (276) decreased 17.6% in 2023, from 335 in 2022. Homicides (93) accounted for 33.7% of these fatalities. The rate for this occupational group decreased from 10.2 fatalities per 100,000 FTE workers in 2022 to 8.2 in 2023.