Ep. 590 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary Data for 2024

Rancho Mesa’s Alyssa Burley and Client Technology Specialist, Brenda Colby sit down to talk about the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ census (or BLS) of fatal occupational injuries summary for 2024.

Show Notes: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to Rancho Mesa's Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠, Register for Ladder Safety Workshop

Host: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Megan Lockhart

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Brenda Colby

Editor: Jadyn Brandt

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “Breaking News Intro” by nem0production

© Copyright 2026. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

Megan Lockhart: You’re listening to Rancho Mesa’s StudioOne™ podcast, where each week we break down complex insurance and safety topics to help your business thrive.  I’m your host, Megan Lockhart, and I’m joined by Brenda Colby, Client Technology Specialist with Rancho Mesa, and we’re going to talk about the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ census (or BLS) of fatal occupational injuries summary for 2024.

Brenda, welcome to the show.

Brenda Colby: Hi Megan, happy to be here.

ML: So, this data has been collected from the total number of fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2024. According to the BLS, 5,070 fatal work injuries occurred in the United States in 2024, which is a lot, but is actually down 4% from 2023.

So Brenda, can you share some of the key findings from this survey?

BC: Sure, so one of the driving factors behind that 4% decrease you mentioned is a 16.2% drop in the fatalities due to exposure to harmful substances or environments. That’s because drug or alcohol overdoses—which are the number one cause of these types of fatalities—saw a drop from 512 deaths in 2023 to 410 deaths in 2024.

ML: Right. And the census also categorizes fatalities by type of event or exposure and occupation. So what kind of fatal incidents were the most common, and what industries saw the highest number of fatalities?

BC: Well, 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 did see a slight decrease from 2023 to 2024. And we talk about this a lot, so it is of no surprise that slips, trips and falls are another very common cause of worker fatalities, and over 10 percent of these fatalities resulted from a fall from a height over 30 feet.

Construction workers saw the second highest number of work-related fatalities in 2024, after transportation workers. Industries that saw an increase in fatalities included building and ground cleaning occupations, maintenance workers, and protective service occupations.

ML: And this data is an important reminder for employers of the high-risk hazards that employees face while working. Employers should consider these hazards and focus on ways to implement safer practices to mitigate the potential risks.

So, what resources does Rancho Mesa have available for employers who want to improve their safety practices?

BC: Well, we have an extensive library of safety related training videos in our SafetyOne platform, which are designed for individual employees that, when completed, will generate a certificate of completion for the employee’s personnel file. As well as 52 driver-specific toolbox talks available through the SafetyOne mobile app, which allows them to conduct the meeting anywhere, collect signatures of participants electronically, letting the system generate the report for you.

Clients can also subscribe to our Driver Safety Newsletter to get emailed a PDF version of a new topic each week. We also have Slip, trip, and fall prevention toolbox talks available in SafetyOne.

And, Rancho Mesa is hosting a Ladder Safety workshop at our office on Friday, March 13th, 2026 at 9:00AM to address common causes of ladder-related injuries and how to keep workers safe on the job. So spots do fill up fast, so if clients are interested in registering, we will put a link to register for the workshop in the episode notes.

ML: Great, Well Brenda, if listeners have questions about accessing safety resources through SafetyOne or signing up for our weekly newsletter, what’s the best way to get in touch with you?

BC: As always, clients can contact me at bcolby@ranchomesa.com or call me directly at (619) 486-6562.

ML: Alright, well Brenda, thanks for joining me in StudioOne.

BC: Thanks for having me.

ML: Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne. If you enjoyed what you heard, please share this episode and subscribe. For more insights like this, visit us at ranchomesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.