Fatal work injuries totaled 275 in 2020 for Florida, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Florida was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 422 in 2004 to a low of 218 in 2012.

Nationwide, a total of 4,764 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2020, an 11-percent decrease from 5,333 in 2020, 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 Florida, transportation incidents resulted in 90 fatal work injuries and falls, slips, and trips accounted for 77 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 61 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 106 over the year, while worker fatalities due to falls, slips, and trips were up from 69.

Exposure to harmful substances or environments was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 43 fatalities, compared to 44 in the prior year. Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 36 work-related deaths, down from 43 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 construction industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Florida with 82, down from 91 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 39 of the 82 fatalities in the industry. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 50, or 61 percent, of fatal workplace injuries in the construction industry.

The private transportation and warehousing industry sector had 44 fatal workplace injuries. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 28, or 64 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

Occupation

The construction and extraction occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 67. (See table 3.) Construction laborers accounted for 18 of the 67 fatalities among construction and extraction workers. The transportation and material moving occupational group had the second highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 60. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers suffered 37 of the work-related deaths within the transportation and material moving group.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 88 percent of the work-related fatalities in Florida, compared to the national rate of 92 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 34 percent of the fatalities for men in Florida.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 55 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 61 percent of work-related deaths.

• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 61 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2020, compared to 56 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

• Of the 275 fatal work injuries in Florida, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers was transportation incidents; falls, slips, and trips were the most frequent fatal event for self-employed workers.

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 fatal work 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, Florida, 2019–20

Event or exposure (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	306	275	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	43	36	13
Intentional injury by person	38	34	12
Intentional injury by other person	27	25	9
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	11	9	3
Transportation incidents	106	90	33
Aircraft incidents	12	3	1
Pedestrian vehicular incident	16	21	8
Water vehicle incidents	4	4	1
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	63	54	20
Roadway collision with other vehicle	49	35	13
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	7	14	5
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	11	8	3
Fires and explosions	--	3	1
Falls, slips, trips	69	77	28
Falls on same level	--	12	4
Falls to lower level	61	60	22
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	44	43	16
Exposure to electricity	18	11	4
Exposure to other harmful substances	16	23	8
Contact with objects and equipment	39	25	9
Struck by object or equipment	36	15	5
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	3	6	2
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	--	4	1
Overexertion and bodily reaction	1	--	--
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 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, Florida, 2019–20

Industry (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	306	275	100
Private industry (2)	294	260	95
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	17	--	--
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	17	13	5
Construction	91	82	30
Construction	91	82	30
Construction of buildings	--	7	3
Heavy and civil engineering construction	12	21	8
Specialty trade contractors	--	50	18
Manufacturing	--	10	4
Service providing (3)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--	--
Wholesale trade	5	9	3
Retail trade	13	15	5
Transportation and warehousing	--	44	16
Air transportation	--	2	1
Truck transportation	--	28	10
Transit and ground passenger transportation	--	4	1
Support activities for transportation	--	7	3
Financial activities	14	--	--
Real estate and rental and leasing	10	6	2
Professional and business services	58	--	--
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	48	28	10
Educational and health services	12	--	--
Health care and social assistance	9	8	3
Leisure and hospitality	14	26	9
Arts, entertainment, and recreation	5	6	2
Accommodation and food services	9	20	7
Other services, except public administration	13	10	4
Government (4)	12	15	5
Federal government	2	3	1
State government	2	4	1
Local government	8	8	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 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 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, Florida, 2019–20

Occupation (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	306	275	100
Management occupations	6	14	5
Business and financial operations occupations	--	4	1
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	1	--	--
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	4	--	--
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	4	4	1
Healthcare support occupations	3	3	1
Protective service occupations	10	6	2
Food preparation and serving related occupations	6	11	4
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	36	29	11
Grounds maintenance workers	29	24	9
Personal care and service occupations	4	5	2
Sales and related occupations	10	14	5
Office and administrative support occupations	--	7	3
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	16	7	3
Construction and extraction occupations	83	67	24
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	4	5	2
Construction trades workers	72	55	20
Carpenters	10	9	3
Construction laborers	19	18	7
Electricians	4	3	1
Painters and paperhangers	6	7	3
Roofers	16	11	4
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	28	25	9
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers	12	10	4
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	13	12	4
Production occupations	12	8	3
Transportation and material moving occupations	70	60	22
Air transportation workers	--	3	1
Motor vehicle operators	50	46	17
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	46	41	15
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	36	37	13
Material moving workers	10	7	3
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 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 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, Florida, 2019–20

Worker characteristics	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	306	275	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	269	234	85
Self-employed (2)	37	41	15
Gender
Men	279	243	88
Women	27	32	12
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	14	16	6
25 to 34 years	38	48	17
35 to 44 years	78	55	20
45 to 54 years	61	65	24
55 to 64 years	69	60	22
65 years and over	41	28	10
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	150	151	55
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	41	33	12
Hispanic or Latino	109	82	30
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 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.