Bureau of Labor Statistics Reveals National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2023

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released its annual census of fatal occupational-related injuries that occurred in 2023. According to the news release, there were 5,283 fatal work injuries recording in the United States in 2023, which is a 3.7% decreases from 5,486 total in 2022. Additionally, the fatal work injury rate in 2023 was 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, down from 3.7 in 2022. This data is from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Some key findings include:

• Construction had the most fatalities (1,075) among all industry sectors in 2023 and was the highest for the sector going back to 2011. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 39.2% (421) of all construction fatalities, with transportation incidents accounting for another 22.3% (240) of fatalities.  
• Most fatal falls to a lower level (260 or 64.4%) within construction were from a height of between 6 feet and 30 feet, while 67 fatal falls were from a height of more than 30 feet. Portable ladders and stairs were the primary source of 109 fatalities in construction. 
• A worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to every 96 minutes in 2022.
• Transportation incidents were the most frequent type of fatal event, accounting for 36.8% (1,942) of all occupational fatalities in 2023.
• Opioids were the primary source of 162 fatalities and a contributor in an additional 144 fatalities where multiple drugs were the source.

More findings and figures can be found in the original BLS press release.