Fatal work injuries totaled 32 in 2020 for South Dakota, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the number of work-related fatalities in South Dakota was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 46 in 1999 to a low of 20 in 2013 and 2019.

Nationwide, a total of 4,764 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2020, an 11-percent decrease from 5,333 in 2019, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in 2020 represents the lowest annual number since 2013.

Fatal event or exposure

In South Dakota, transportation incidents resulted in 18 fatal work injuries and accounted for 56 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 11 over the year.

Falls, slips, or trips and contact with objects or equipment were the second-most frequent fatal work event with 6 fatalities each. Worker deaths from contact with objects or equipment were up from four in 2019.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2020, accounting for 37 percent of fatal work injuries. Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent).

Industry

The private agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry sector in South Dakota had 13 fatal workplace injuries, up from 8 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 9 of the 13 fatalities in the industry. The cattle ranching and farming industry group accounted for 6, or 46 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

The private construction industry sector had the second-highest number of fatalities with eight, up from five in the previous year.

Occupation

The management occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 12. (See table 3.) Two occupational groups had five fatalities each: the construction and extraction occupational group and the transportation and material moving occupational group. The farming, fishing, and forestry occupational group reported three fatal workplace injuries, all suffered by crop, nursery, and greenhouse farmworkers and laborers.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 84 percent of the work-related fatalities in South Dakota, less than the 92-percent national share. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 52 percent of the fatalities for men in South Dakota.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 91 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 61 percent of work-related deaths.

• Workers 55 years and over accounted for 44 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2020, compared to 36 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

• Of the 32 fatal work injuries in South Dakota, 63 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers and self-employed workers was transportation incidents.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI uses a variety of state, federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries. This ensures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. For the 2020 national data, over 21,600 unique source documents were reviewed as part of the data collection process. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the BLS Handbook of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/home.htm and the CFOI definitions at www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm.

Federal/State agency coverage. The CFOI includes data for all fatal work injuries, some of which may be outside the scope of other agencies or regulatory coverage. Comparisons between CFOI counts and those released by other agencies should account for the different coverage requirements and definitions used by each agency. For more information on the scope of CFOI, see www.bls.gov/iif/cfoiscope.htm and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm.

Acknowledgments. BLS appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries. Among these agencies are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; the National Transportation Safety Board; the U.S. Coast Guard; the Mine Safety and Health Administration; the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs (Federal Employees' Compensation and Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation divisions); the Federal Railroad Administration; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; state vital statistics registrars, coroners, and medical examiners; state departments of health, labor, and industrial relations and workers' compensation agencies; state and local police departments; and state farm bureaus.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, South Dakota, 2019–20

Event or exposure (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	20	32	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	--	--	--
Transportation incidents	11	18	56
Pedestrian vehicular incident	--	1	3
Pedestrian struck by vehicle on side of road	--	1	3
Pedestrian struck by forward-moving vehicle on side of road	--	1	3
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	8	7	22
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	1	7	22
Nonroadway noncollision incident	1	7	22
Jack-knifed or overturned, nonroadway	1	4	13
Fires and explosions	--	--	--
Falls, slips, trips	--	6	19
Falls to lower level	--	5	16
Fall through surface or existing opening	--	1	3
Fall through surface or existing opening more than 30 feet	--	1	3
Other fall to lower level	--	4	13
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	1	--	--
Contact with objects and equipment	4	6	19
Struck by object or equipment	--	3	9
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	--	3	9
Overexertion and bodily reaction	--	--	--
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) 2.01 implemented for 2011 data forward.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, South Dakota, 2019–20

Industry (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	20	32	100
Private industry (2)	20	30	94
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	8	13	41
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	8	13	41
Animal production and aquaculture	1	6	19
Cattle ranching and farming	1	6	19
Beef cattle ranching and farming, including feedlots	--	4	13
Beef cattle ranching and farming	--	4	13
Dairy cattle and milk production	1	2	6
Construction	5	8	25
Construction	5	8	25
Construction of buildings	--	5	16
Manufacturing	--	--	--
Service providing (3)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--	--
Transportation and warehousing	--	1	3
Support activities for transportation	--	1	3
Support activities for road transportation	--	1	3
Motor vehicle towing	--	1	3
Information	--	--	--
Financial activities	--	--	--
Professional and business services	--	1	3
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	--	1	3
Administrative and support services	--	1	3
Services to buildings and dwellings	--	1	3
Janitorial services	--	1	3
Educational and health services	--	--	--
Leisure and hospitality	--	--	--
Other services, except public administration	--	1	3
Other services, except public administration	--	1	3
Repair and maintenance	--	1	3
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) repair and maintenance	--	1	3
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment (except automotive and electronic) repair and maintenance	--	1	3
Government (4)	--	--	--
Federal government	--	--	--
State government	--	--	--
Local government	--	1	3
Footnotes: (1) CFOI has used several versions of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) since 2003 to define industry. For complete information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. (2) Cases where ownership is unknown are included in private industry counts. (3) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts. (4) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. Cases classified as foreign government and other government are included in all government counts, but not displayed separately.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, South Dakota, 2019–20

Occupation (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	20	32	100
Management occupations	4	12	38
Business and financial operations occupations	--	--	--
Computer and mathematical occupations	--	--	--
Architecture and engineering occupations	--	--	--
Life, physical, and social science occupations	1	--	--
Community and social service occupations	--	--	--
Legal occupations	--	--	--
Educational instruction and library occupations	--	--	--
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	--	--	--
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	--	--	--
Healthcare support occupations	--	--	--
Protective service occupations	--	--	--
Food preparation and serving related occupations	--	--	--
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	--	--	--
Personal care and service occupations	--	--	--
Sales and related occupations	1	--	--
Office and administrative support occupations	--	--	--
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	4	3	9
Agricultural workers	4	3	9
Miscellaneous agricultural workers	4	3	9
Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse	2	3	9
Construction and extraction occupations	--	5	16
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3	--	--
Production occupations	--	--	--
Transportation and material moving occupations	4	5	16
Footnotes: (1) CFOI has used several versions of the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) system since 2003 to define occupation. For complete information on the version of SOC used in this year, see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, South Dakota, 2019–20

Worker characteristics	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	20	32	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	13	20	63
Self-employed (2)	7	12	38
Gender
Men	17	27	84
Women	3	5	16
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	4	4	13
45 to 54 years	--	8	25
55 to 64 years	3	5	16
65 years and over	3	9	28
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	17	29	91
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	--	--	--
Footnotes: (1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. Cases where employment status is unknown are included in the counts of wage and salary workers. (2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships. (3) Information may not be available for all age groups. (4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude data for Hispanics and Latinos. Cases where ethnicity is unknown are included in counts of non-Hispanic workers.
NOTE: Data for all years are final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. For complete information on how the data are coded and presented see our definitions page at https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfdef.htm. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.