Rising Trend in Workers Killed on the Job:  BLS Reports Highest Number of Worker Deaths Since 2008

Motor vehicle accidents and fatal falls continue to be the two greatest risks of death while on the job

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its latest worker fatality report on December 17, 2019 (read it here) revealing more and more workers are dying on the job in this country.  During 2018, even more workers died at the workplace than the record number of work fatalities reported in 2017. Illinois and Indiana both saw more workers die on the job last year (See BLS Report, Table 5).

The latest BLS figures show the highest number of workplace deaths since 2008.  The rising trend in Worker Death Rates continues for the second straight year for both Indiana and Illinois, as well as the nation as a whole.

Most Common Types of Fatal Accidents for Workers

According to the BLS, using data compiled through the federal Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, the following were the most common ways that workers met their deaths while on the job last year:

Motor Vehicle Crashes

Transportation incidents involving motor vehicle accidents are still the most common reason that a worker dies while on the job in this country.  Crashes involving cars, trucks, vans, buses, and all types of commercial motor vehicles were the cause of forty percent (40%) of all worker deaths.

Falls

Fatal falls (i.e., slip and falls; trip and falls) remain an extremely high fatality risk for workers today.  The BLS does report some good news here:  fatal falls have decreased by 11%, due to fewer reported fatal falls involving falls to a lower level (this event reached a reported high of 887 in 2017, and dropped to 615 in 2018).

Objects and Equipment

Worker fatalities involving workers caught in running equipment or machinery jumped 39% in 2018.  Deaths caused by workers coming into contact with various objects or equipment at their work site rose 13% during the same time period, and there was a 17% increase in the number of workers who died after being struck by something falling (objects, equipment). 

Drug Overdoses

The number of workers who died from accidental overdoses while on the job rose for the sixth (6^th) straight year.  During the past year alone, deadly worksite drug overdoses rose 12%.

Violence

There was a tragic 11% jump in the number of work-related suicides last year.  The number of violent deaths involving persons or animals rose 3% in 2018.

Deadliest Types of Work: Dangerous Jobs

According to the December 2019 BLS report, the following occupations had the highest number of work fatalities:

Drivers (Sales; Trucking)

Anyone getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle as part of their daily work duties faces the highest risk of a deadly accident on the job.  More drivers (sales workers; truck drivers) died on the job than any other occupation in 2018.  Within this category, the drivers with the highest fatality rates were heavy truck and tractor-trailer truck drivers.

Logging, Fishing, Pilots, Flight Engineers, Roofers

In 2018, five occupations all saw death rates that were ten (10) times the overall worker fatality rate.  These were:

1. Logging workers.
2. Fishing workers (fishermen and women).
3. Aircraft pilots.
4. Flight engineers.
5. Roofers.

Law Enforcement Officers

There was a 14% rise in law enforcement deaths in 2018.  These fatalities involved both local police and sheriff’s patrol officers.

Independent Workers (Gig Workers; Freelancers)

Independent workers are defined by the BLS as those workers involved in a “work relationship that is finite and involves a single task, short-term contract, or freelance work.”  These independent workers accounted for twelve percent (12%) of all worker fatalities in 2018. 

The freelance (gig) occupations that proved to be the most deadly were:

1. heavy truck and tractor-trailer truck drivers;
2. first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers; and
3. construction laborers.

Worker Deaths Are Preventable: Seeking Justice for Fatal Work Accidents

As we have discussed previously, today’s reality is that employers view worker safety as part of their budget concerns, and all too often companies take the risk of worker deaths as a part of the cost of doing business. See: Work Accidents: Dangers of Serious or Fatal Injuries on the Job Because Safety Costs Too Much.

Profits today are considered to be a higher priority than people in too many boardrooms.  This leaves workers and their families facing preventable, fatal accidents.  Profit-centered neglect of worker safety results in tragic consequences not only for the worker-victim but for their loved ones, who must deal with the aftermath of the fatal work accident.

For workers who are killed while on the job in Indiana or Illinois, there are legal avenues for justice available to the worker’s survivors.  These claims may be advanced in the state worker’s compensation systems (which are different for Indiana and Illinois).  Some may be exclusive to federal statute (for instance, railroad worker deaths on the job). 

After investigation, some fatal on the job accident claims may be asserted outside of worker’s compensation laws under premises liability, defective product, or other negligence law.  These cases may allow for punitive damages, depending upon the unique circumstances of the accident.

For more, read:

• Corporate Greed That Disregards You and Me: The Importance of Punitive Damage Awards
• Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims
• Profits Over People: Corporate Greed in the News.

Workers and their families here in Illinois and Indiana need to be aware of how some occupations are particularly high risk for a fatal accident, and how there is a continued rising trend in this country for employers to ignore worker safety protections.  Please be careful out there!