Fatal work injuries totaled 47 in 2020 for West Virginia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that the number of work-related fatalities in West Virginia was similar to the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 95 in 2010 to a low of 35 in 2015.

Nationwide, a total of 4,764 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2020, an 11-percent decrease from the 5,333 in 2019, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. The 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in 2020 represents the lowest annual number since 2013.

Fatal event or exposure

In West Virginia, transportation incidents resulted in 17 fatal work injuries and contact with objects and equipment accounted for 10 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 57 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 24 over the year while worker fatalities due to contact with objects and equipment were up from 8.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the third-most frequent fatal work event with eight fatalities. Exposure to harmful substances or environments resulted in seven work-related deaths.  

Nationally, transportation incidents was the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2020, accounting for 37 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent).

Industry

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in West Virginia with nine. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 6 of the 9 fatalities in this industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for seven, or 78 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

The private mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry sector; private construction industry sector; and government each had six fatal workplace injuries.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 13. (See table 3.) Driver/sales workers and truck drivers accounted for 10 of the 13 fatalities among transportation and material moving occupations. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second highest number of fatal workplace injuries with nine. Underground mining machine operators suffered three of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 89 percent of the work-related fatalities in West Virginia. Nationwide, this group accounted for 92 percent of the work-related fatalities. (See table 4.) Contact with objects and equipment made up 24 percent of the fatalities for men in West Virginia.
• White non-Hispanics accounted for 83 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 61 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 70 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2020, compared to 56 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally for the same age range.
• Of the 47 fatal work injuries in West Virginia, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed.

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 2020 national data, over 21,600 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 https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm and the CFOI definitions at www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.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/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS 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, West Virginia, 2019–20

Event or exposure (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	46	47	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	--	8	17
Intentional injury by person	--	6	13
Intentional injury by other person	--	2	4
Shooting by other person--intentional	--	2	4
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	--	4	9
Hanging, strangulation, asphyxiation--intentional self-harm	--	4	9
Transportation incidents	24	17	36
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	16	11	23
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	9	5	11
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	9	5	11
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	12	7	15
Contact with objects and equipment	8	10	21
Struck by object or equipment	5	7	15
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 final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, West Virginia, 2020

Industry (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	46	47	100
Private industry (2)	43	41	87
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	11	10	21
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	4	4	9
Forestry and logging	4	1	2
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (3)	7	6	13
Construction	--	6	13
Construction	--	6	13
Manufacturing	--	4	9
Manufacturing	--	4	9
Chemical manufacturing	--	1	2
Basic chemical manufacturing	--	1	2
Petrochemical manufacturing	--	1	2
Primary metal manufacturing	--	1	2
Service providing (4)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--	--
Retail trade	--	3	6
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	--	3	6
Automotive parts, accessories, and tire stores	--	3	6
Transportation and warehousing	11	9	19
Truck transportation	9	7	15
Specialized freight trucking	--	3	6
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, local	--	1	2
Government (5)	3	6	13
Federal government	--	1	2
State government	--	1	2
Local government	1	4	9
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 definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. (2) Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts. (3) Includes fatal injuries at all establishments categorized as Mining (Sector 21) in the North American Industry Classification System, including establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction. (4) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts. (5) 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 final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, West Virginia, 2020

Occupation (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	46	47	100
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	4	1	2
Forest, conservation, and logging workers	3	1	2
Logging workers	3	1	2
Fallers	3	1	2
Construction and extraction occupations	9	9	19
Extraction workers	1	5	11
Underground mining machine operators	1	3	6
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	--	4	9
Production occupations	--	5	11
Transportation and material moving occupations	20	13	28
Motor vehicle operators	16	10	21
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	--	10	21
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 this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, West Virginia, 2019–20

Worker characteristics	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	46	47	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	42	40	85
Self-employed (2)	4	7	15
Gender
Men	44	42	89
Women	2	5	11
Age (3)
25 to 34 years	3	11	23
35 to 44 years	11	13	28
45 to 54 years	11	9	19
55 to 64 years	7	4	9
65 years and over	8	8	17
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	43	39	83
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	3	5	11
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 final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.