Workplace fatalities fall in 2017

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
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There were 43 fewer workplace fatalities in 2017 than the previous year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2017 (CFOI). The fatal injury rate also decreased from 3.6 percent in 2016 to 3.5 percent in 2017.

In addition to the decline in overall fatalities, crane-related workplace fatalities and fatal occupational injuries in the private manufacturing industry and wholesale trade industries reached their lowest points since the CFOI started in 2003.

“The scourge of opioid addiction unfortunately continues to take its toll on workers across the country, demonstrating the importance of this administration’s efforts to tackle this crisis,” says Loren Sweatt, acting assistant secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.