Fatal work injuries totaled 306 in 2019 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Florida was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 422 in 2004 to a low of 218 in 2012.

Nationwide, a total of 5,333 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2019, a 2-percent increase from the 5,250 in 2018, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. The 5,333 fatal occupational injuries in 2019 represents the largest annual number since 2007.

Fatal event or exposure

In Florida, transportation incidents resulted in 106 fatal work injuries and falls, slips, and trips accounted for 69 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 57 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 117 over the year and worker fatalities due to falls, slips, and trips were down from 82.

Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 44 fatalities, down from 56 in the prior year. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 43 work-related deaths, up from 33 in 2018.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2019, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry had the highest number of fatalities in Florida with 91. (See table 2.) The private administrative and support and waste management and remediation services industry had 48 workplace fatalities. The administrative and support services subsector accounted for 43, or 90 percent, of the fatal injuries in the private administrative and support and waste management and remediation services industry.

Occupation

The construction and extraction occupational group had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 83. (See table 3.) Construction trades workers accounted for 72 of the 83 fatalities among construction and extraction workers. The transportation and material moving occupational group had the second highest number of workplace fatalities with 70. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers suffered 36 of the work-related deaths within the transportation and material moving group.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 91 percent of the work-related fatalities in Florida, similar to the national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 36 percent of the fatalities for men in Florida.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 49 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 62 percent of work-related deaths.

• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 58 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2019, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

• Of the 306 fatal work injuries in Florida, 88 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents; transportation incidents was also the most frequent fatal event for self-employed workers.

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 fatal work 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 2019 national data, over 25,100 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 on the BLS website at 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Florida, 2018–19

Event or exposure (1)	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	332	306	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	33	43	14
Intentional injury by person	32	38	12
Intentional injury by other person	22	27	9
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	10	11	4
Transportation incidents	117	106	35
Aircraft incidents	8	12	4
Pedestrian vehicular incident	24	16	5
Water vehicle incidents	6	4	1
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	70	63	21
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	8	11	4
Fires and explosions	7	--	--
Falls, slips, trips	82	69	23
Falls to lower level	69	61	20
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	56	44	14
Exposure to electricity	23	18	6
Exposure to temperature extremes	4	6	2
Exposure to other harmful substances	22	16	5
Exposure to oxygen deficiency, n.e.c.	7	4	1
Drowning, submersion, n.e.c.	6	4	1
Contact with objects and equipment	37	39	13
Struck by object or equipment	26	36	12
Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport	7	13	4
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	17	19	6
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	6	3	1
Overexertion and bodily reaction	--	1	0
Overexertion involving outside sources	--	1	0
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 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, Florida, 2019

Industry (1)	Number	Percent
Total	306	100
Private industry (2)	294	96
Goods producing	--	--
Natural resources and mining	17	6
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	17	6
Construction	91	30
Manufacturing	--	--
Service providing (3)	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--
Wholesale trade	5	2
Retail trade	13	4
Information	--	--
Financial activities	14	5
Real estate and rental and leasing	10	3
Professional and business services	58	19
Professional, scientific, and technical services	10	3
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	48	16
Administrative and support services	43	14
Educational and health services	12	4
Educational services	3	1
Health care and social assistance	9	3
Leisure and hospitality	14	5
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	5	2
Accommodation and food services	9	3
Other services, except public administration	13	4
Government (4)	12	4
Federal government	2	1
State government	2	1
Local government	8	3
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 www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. (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 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 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, Florida, 2019

Occupation (1)	Number	Percent
Total	306	100
Management occupations	6	2
Business and financial operations occupations	--	--
Computer and mathematical occupations	--	--
Architecture and engineering occupations	--	--
Life, physical, and social science occupations	1	0
Community and social service occupations	--	--
Legal occupations	--	--
Educational instruction and library occupations	1	0
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	4	1
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	4	1
Healthcare support occupations	3	1
Protective service occupations	10	3
Food preparation and serving related occupations	6	2
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	36	12
Grounds maintenance workers	29	9
Personal care and service occupations	4	1
Sales and related occupations	10	3
Office and administrative support occupations	--	--
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	16	5
Construction and extraction occupations	83	27
Construction trades workers	72	24
Carpenters	10	3
Construction laborers	19	6
Roofers	16	5
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	28	9
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers	12	4
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	13	4
Production occupations	12	4
Transportation and material moving occupations	70	23
Motor vehicle operators	50	16
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	46	15
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	36	12
Light truck drivers	7	2
Material moving workers	10	3
Military specific occupations (2)	1	0
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 www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total. (2) Includes fatal injuries to persons identified as resident armed forces regardless of individual occupation listed.
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 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, Florida, 2018–19

Worker characteristics	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	332	306	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	294	269	88
Self-employed (2)	38	37	12
Gender
Men	316	279	91
Women	16	27	9
Age (3)
16 to 17 years	--	3	1
18 to 19 years	3	--	--
20 to 24 years	12	14	5
25 to 34 years	56	38	12
35 to 44 years	75	78	25
45 to 54 years	79	61	20
55 to 64 years	68	69	23
65 years and over	39	41	13
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	178	150	49
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	43	41	13
Hispanic or Latino	104	109	36
Asian, non-Hispanic	4	3	1
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 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.