Fatal Injuries Rise for First Time Since 2007

January 4, 2021 Roberta Garthwait

In recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics appearing in its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2019, there were 5,333 fatal work injuries recorded in the U.S. in 2019, a 2 percent increase from the 5,250 recorded in 2018. This is the largest number of work-related fatalities reported since 2007. In fact, a worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2019. Other key findings from the BLS report include:

• Fatalities among workers age 55 and over increased 8 percent from 1,863 in 2018 to 2,005 in 2019, which is the largest number ever recorded for this age group.
• Hispanic or Latino worker fatalities were up 13 percent to 1,088 in 2019–a series high since 1992.
• Driver/sales workers and truck drivers incurred 1,005 fatal occupational injuries, the highest since this series began in 2003.