Work Safety Introduction
The number of preventable work deaths decreased 10% in 2020, totaling 4,113. In addition to preventable fatal work injuries, 651 homicides and suicides occurred in the workplace in 2020. These intentional injuries are not included in the preventable-injury estimates.
The large decrease in preventable work death in 2020 is partially a result of a 9% decrease in the hours worked resulting from the economic disruption associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. It should also be noted that this fatality count does not reflect any COVID-19 work-related illness deaths. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) fatality surveillance system does not include the tracking of illness deaths. The preventable injury death rate of 3.0 per 100,000 workers (down from 3.1) marks the first decrease since 2016. Work-related medically consulted injuries totaled 4.0 million in 2020.
2020 Occupational Safety Highlights
Preventable injury-related deaths | 4,113 |
Preventable injury-related deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers | 3.0 |
Medically consulted injuries | 4,000,000 |
Workers | 148,982 |
Costs | 163.9 Billion |
Source: Deaths reflect National Safety Council (NSC) analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). All other figures are NSC estimates based on data from BLS.
In 2020, the industry sector experiencing the largest number of preventable fatal injuries was construction, followed by transportation and warehousing. The industry sector experiencing the highest fatality rates per 100,000 workers was agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, followed by transportation and warehousing.
Please note: Comparison to 2019 data is not available for several industry sectors. BLS did not report fatality data at the private industry level for several major industry sectors in 2019. BLS indicates that these industries did not meet publishable standards for 2019. BLS suppresses industry estimates if they don’t meet certain criteria for both reliability and confidentiality.
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- Data Table
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- Data Table
Preventable injuries at work by industry, United States, 2020
Hours worked(a) (millions) |
Deaths(a) | Deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers(a) | Medically consulted injuries | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 |
Change from 2019 |
2020 |
Change from 2019 |
||
316 | |||||
82 |
(a) Deaths include persons of all ages. Workers and death rates include persons 16 years and older. The rate is calculated as: (number of fatal work injuries x 200,000,000/total hours worked). The base for 100,000 full-time equivalent workers is 200,000,000 hours. Prior to 2008, rates were based on estimated employment – not hours worked.
(b) Agriculture includes forestry, fishing, and hunting. Mining includes oil and gas extraction. “Other services” excludes public administration.
(c) Comparison to 2019 is not available. BLS did not report fatality data at the private industry level for several major industry sectors in 2019. BLS indicates these industries did not meet publishable standards for 2019. BLS suppresses industry estimates if they don’t meet certain criteria for both reliability and confidentiality. In 2019 BLS updated the standards for confidentiality.
(d) The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did not report the total number of deaths for the Professional and business services industry sector in 2020. The NSC estimate is based on the partial data reported for this industry by injury event.
Source: NSC analysis of data from the BLS CFOI surveillance program.