On Dec. 19, 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its annual National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report for 2022, which showed the construction industry had 1,069 fatal injuries for the year—up from 1,015 fatal injuries in 2021, according to Construction Dive.
Additionally, the industry’s 2022 fatal injury rate rose to 9.6 in 2022 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers from 9.4 in 2021. The fatal injury rate is viewed as a key safety indicator because it adjusts for yearly changes in the overall number of workers and amount of construction work.
The “Fatal Four”—falls, struck-bys, caught-in/betweens and electrocutions—were the most common fatal events.
According to the report, a U.S. worker died every 96 minutes in 2022 compared with 101 minutes in 2021, and unintentional overdoses at all workplaces rose from 464 to 525 fatalities in 2022. Additionally, in 2022, the fatal injury rates for Black or African American workers increased to 4.2 deaths per 100,000 workers and to 4.6 deaths for Hispanic or Latino workers, which are higher than the all-worker rate of 3.7.
Brian Turmail, Associated General Contractors of America vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives, said in a statement the statistics are “a sobering reminder that there is a tremendous amount of work yet to be done to ensure that every worker in the industry goes home safe and healthy, every day.”
