Construction Fatalities Hit Highest Number in More Than a Decade

What’s New

Construction fatalities hit their highest number in more than a decade, according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Labor.

In 2023, there were 1,075 deaths in the construction industry, which had the highest number of fatalities that year. It was also the highest number of fatalities the industry had seen since 2011, according to the report.

Across all industries, a worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023, the report found. In 2022, it was every 96 minutes.

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Department of Labor press office via email for comment.

Why It Matters

Millions of people in America work in construction, and there are serious risks associated with the work they undertake, making it one of the most dangerous jobs to do.

In 2021, the industry was ranked as the most dangerous to work in, according to business software company theaccessgroup.com.

What To Know

The number of people working in the construction industry has been growing. In 2019, 11.4 million U.S. workers were employed in construction, a 25 percent increase from 2011, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The vast majority of construction workers are male and Hispanic, according to the CDC.

The labor department report showed that falls, trips and slips were the largest cause of fatalities in the industry, accounting for almost 40 percent. Transportation incidents were the next most common cause of fatalities, accounting for over 20 percent.

Portable ladders and stairs were also found as associated with a high level of risk in the report as they were the primary source of 109 construction fatalities.

What People Are Saying

Jessica E. Martinez, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH): “We know from long experience that the surest way to make our workplaces safer is to put workers at the center of the conversation. Workers know their jobs. They know where the hazards are and how to eliminate them. Every worker deserves to come home safe and sound at the end of every shift. The way to achieve that goal is to listen…