Fatal work injuries totaled 193 in 2020 for Georgia, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Georgia was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 249 in 1994 to a low of 101 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 Georgia, transportation incidents resulted in 80 fatal work injuries and accounted for 41 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents in 2020 for Georgia compared to the 81 fatalities in 2019.

Contact with objects and equipment was the second-most frequent fatal work event with 34 fatalities, up from 28 in the prior year. Falls, slips, and trips resulted in 32 work-related deaths compared to 29 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 transportation and warehousing industry sector had the highest number of fatalities in Georgia with 39, up from 25 in the previous year. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 32 of the 39 fatalities in the industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 30, or 77 percent, of fatal workplace injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry.

The private construction industry sector had 37 fatal workplace injuries, down from 47 in the previous year. The specialty trade contractors subsector accounted for 17, or 46 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 60. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 37 of the 60 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second highest number of fatalities with 35. Construction laborers suffered 12 of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction group.

Additional highlights

• Men accounted for 95 percent of the work-related fatalities in Georgia, compared to the national rate of 92 percent. (See table 4.) Transportation incidents made up 42 percent of the fatalities for men in Georgia.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 43 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 193 fatal work injuries in Georgia, 88 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event for wage and salary workers and 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 thanks the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also 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, Georgia, 2019–20

Event or exposure (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	207	193	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	36	23	12
Intentional injury by person	32	20	10
Intentional injury by other person	20	12	6
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	12	8	4
Transportation incidents	81	80	41
Pedestrian vehicular incident	16	15	8
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	51	48	25
Roadway collision with other vehicle	25	24	12
Roadway noncollision incident	--	11	6
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	6	7	4
Fires and explosions	1	--	--
Falls, slips, trips	29	32	17
Falls on same level	3	4	2
Falls to lower level	26	28	15
Other fall to lower level	20	23	12
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	30	21	11
Exposure to electricity	9	3	2
Exposure to temperature extremes	3	4	2
Exposure to other harmful substances	16	14	7
Contact with objects and equipment	28	34	18
Struck by object or equipment	21	24	12
Struck by powered vehicle--nontransport	8	4	2
Struck by falling object or equipment--other than powered vehicle	11	16	8
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	5	5	3
Caught in running equipment or machinery	4	3	2
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 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, Georgia, 2019–20

Industry (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	207	193	100
Private industry (2)	185	175	91
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	12	--	--
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	11	12	6
Forestry and logging	1	7	4
Construction	47	37	19
Construction	47	37	19
Specialty trade contractors	--	17	9
Manufacturing	--	21	11
Service providing (3)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	42	60	31
Wholesale trade	8	7	4
Retail trade	9	14	7
Transportation and warehousing	25	39	20
Truck transportation	21	30	16
Professional and business services	30	24	12
Professional, scientific, and technical services	1	3	2
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	29	21	11
Educational and health services	5	--	--
Health care and social assistance	4	4	2
Other services, except public administration	6	6	3
Government (4)	22	--	--
Federal government	11	5	3
State government	--	--	--
Local government	11	12	6
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, Georgia, 2019–20

Occupation (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	207	193	100
Management occupations	11	7	4
Business and financial operations occupations	--	--	--
Computer and mathematical occupations	--	--	--
Architecture and engineering occupations	--	--	--
Life, physical, and social science occupations	--	--	--
Community and social service occupations	--	--	--
Legal occupations	--	--	--
Educational instruction and library occupations	--	--	--
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	1	--	--
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	1	--	--
Healthcare support occupations	--	--	--
Protective service occupations	10	--	--
Food preparation and serving related occupations	4	--	--
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	21	20	10
Grounds maintenance workers	18	12	6
Personal care and service occupations	3	--	--
Sales and related occupations	4	9	5
Office and administrative support occupations	7	--	--
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	7	9	5
Construction and extraction occupations	47	35	18
Supervisors of construction and extraction workers	5	3	2
Construction trades workers	37	30	16
Construction laborers	16	12	6
Construction equipment operators	4	3	2
Painters and paperhangers	4	6	3
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	13	14	7
Production occupations	12	13	7
Transportation and material moving occupations	54	60	31
Motor vehicle operators	38	42	22
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	35	42	22
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	27	37	19
Material moving workers	12	15	8
Industrial truck and tractor operators	3	3	2
Laborers and material movers	7	9	5
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, Georgia, 2019–20

Worker characteristics	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	207	193	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	156	170	88
Self-employed (2)	51	23	12
Gender
Men	180	183	95
Women	27	10	5
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	17	9	5
25 to 34 years	35	36	19
35 to 44 years	49	45	23
45 to 54 years	43	36	19
55 to 64 years	39	41	21
65 years and over	21	20	10
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	91	83	43
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	74	58	30
Hispanic or Latino	37	43	22
Asian, non-Hispanic	5	6	3
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.