Workers' Compensation: In the Fog of COVID

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released the 2020 summary of fatal occupational injuries. Unfortunately, it has ignored the COVID cases that are occupationally related.

There were 4,764 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2020, a 10.7-percent decrease from 5,333 in 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The fatal work injury rate was 3.4 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalents (FTE) workers, down from 3.5 per 100,000 FTE in 2019. These data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/number-of-fatal-work-injuries-by-employee-status-self-employed-wage-salary.htm#

Key findings from the 2020 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

- The 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in 2020 represent
the lowest annual number since 2013.

- A worker died every 111 minutes from a work-related injury in 2020.

- Transportation incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal event with 1,778 fatal injuries, accounting for 37.3 percent of all work-related fatalities.

- The share of Hispanic or Latino workers fatally injured on the job continued to grow, increasing to 22.5 percent (1,072 fatalities) from 20.4 percent (1,088 fatalities) in 2019.

- Suicides decreased 15.6 percent from 307 in 2019 to 259 in 2020, representing the lowest count for occupational suicides since 2015.

https://www.bls.gov/charts/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries/state-fatal-work-injuries-map.htm

BLS Covid Disclaimer

CFOI reports fatal workplace injuries only. These may include fatal workplace injuries complicated by an illness such |as COVID-19. Fatal workplace illnesses not precipitated by an injury are not in scope for CFOI. CFOI does not report any illness-related information, including COVID-19.

Recommended Citation: Gelman, Jon L., In the Fog of COVID, Workers' Compensation Blog (Dec, 17 2021),

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (Thomson-Reuters). For over 5 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Blog: Workers ' Compensation

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