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One worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2019

December 18, 2020

There were 5,333 fatal workplace injuries recorded in the United States in 2019, a 2-percent increase over the 2018 count of 5,250. This represents the largest fatal case count since 2007. The fatal work injury rate for 2019 was 3.5 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers.

Number of fatal work injuries, 1992–2019
Year Fatal work injuries

1992

6,217

1993

6,331

1994

6,632

1995

6,275

1996

6,202

1997

6,238

1998

6,055

1999

6,054

2000

5,920

2001

5,915

2002

5,534

2003

5,575

2004

5,764

2005

5,734

2006

5,840

2007

5,657

2008

5,214

2009

4,551

2010

4,690

2011

4,693

2012

4,628

2013

4,585

2014

4,821

2015

4,836

2016

5,190

2017

5,147

2018

5,250

2019

5,333

Transportation incidents were at a high in 2019 with 2,122 cases. This was an increase of 2 percent. Falls, slips, and trips increased 11 percent over the previous year for a total of 880 deaths. Workplace deaths due to fires and explosions decreased 14 percent from 115 in 2018 to 99 in 2019.

Number of fatal work injuries by major event or exposure, 2018–19
Event or exposure 2018 2019

Transportation incidents

2,080 2,122

Falls, slips, trips

791 880

Violence and other injuries by person or animal

828 841

Contact with objects and equipment

786 732

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

621 642

Fires and explosions

115 99

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more, see “National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2019.” We also have more charts on fatal workplace injuries.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, One worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/one-worker-died-every-99-minutes-from-a-work-related-injury-in-2019.htm (visited May 12, 2024).

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