Fatal Workplace Injuries Decline over Two Decades

Fatal injury rate higher among older workers

In 2013, 4,585 workers in the United States died from an injury suffered at work. This is the second-lowest figure since BLS began publishing national data in 1992. Although fatal workplace injuries have fallen 23% since 2000, a worker died every two hours in the United States from a workplace injury in 2013.

The rate of fatal workplace injuries has fallen since 2006, the first year that BLS published hours-based rates. The overall national rate of 3.3 fatal workplace injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2013 was the lowest published hours-based rate since 2006.

Fatal injuries affect workers of all ages. In 2013, five workers under age 16, and three workers age 90 or older died from workplace injuries.

Older workers have higher rates of fatal injury than younger workers; workers age 65 and older had a rate that was more than double the rate for all workers in 2013.

These data are from the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. BLS published the final counts of fatal work injuries in the United States in 2013 on April 22, 2015.