Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2024
Author, Jadyn Brandt, Client Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released the collected data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary for 2024.
This survey collects the total number of fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2024 as well as worker characteristics, type of event or exposure and occupation data.
According to the BLS, 5,070 fatal work injuries occurred in the United States in 2024. This total is down 4% from 2023.
Key Findings
A 16.2% decrease in fatalities due to exposure to harmful substances or environments was a driving factor in the overall drop in fatal injury rate.
Drug or alcohol overdoses are the number one cause of these types of fatalities, but also saw a drop from 512 deaths in 2023 to 410 deaths in 2024.
Worker Characteristics
The fatal injury counts for Black or African American workers decreased in 2024 to 624 from 659 in 2023.
The fatal injury rate for Hispanic or Latino workers dropped to 4.3 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2024 from a rate of 4.4 in 2023.
Women made up 8.1% of all worker fatalities but 15.3% of fatalities due to homicides in 2024.
Type of Fatal Event or Exposure
Transportation incidents were the most frequent cause of fatal injury in 2024, accounting for 38.2% of all occupational fatalities that year. However, the total number of fatal transportation incidents dropped to 1,937 in 2024 from 1,942 in 2023.
Falls, slips, and trips are another common cause of worker fatalities, but decreased 4.6% from 885 in 2023 to 844 in 2024. In 2024, over 10% of these fatalities resulted from a fall from a height over 30 feet.
Fatalities due to violent acts also decreased slightly, to 733 in 2024 from 740 in 2023.
Occupation
Construction workers saw the second highest number of work-related fatalities in 2024, after transportation workers. In the construction industry, falls, slips and trips caused 370 fatalities in 2024, down 7.5% from 400 in 2023.
Building and ground cleaning occupations and maintenance workers saw an increase in fatalities from 2023 to 2024 as did protective service occupations.
Fatal injuries are the worst-case-scenario on a jobsite and serve as a reminder of how important it is for employees to be properly trained on all safe working procedures. Rancho Mesa clients can use safety trainings and toolbox talks in the SafetyOne™ app to ensure their employees are prepared for the dangers and risks on a jobsite.
A library of 52 driver-specific toolbox talks is available through SafetyOne to aid in the prevention of transportation incidents that could be fatal. Slip, trip, and fall prevention toolbox talks are also available in SafetyOne.
Additionally, Rancho Mesa is hosting a Ladder Safety workshop on Friday, March 13th, 2026 at 9:00 AM. This workshop will address common causes of ladder-related injuries and how to keep workers safe when they are required to use ladders.