Fatal work injuries totaled 94 in 2019 for Arizona, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Acting Regional Commissioner Dennis Reid noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Arizona was up from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 118 in 2000 to a low of 55 in 1993.

Nationwide, a total of 5,333 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2019, a 2-percent increase from the 5,250 in 2018, according to the results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) program. The 5,333 fatal occupational injuries in 2019 represents the largest annual number since 2007.

Fatal event or exposure

In Arizona, transportation incidents resulted in 39 fatal work injuries and falls, slips, or trips accounted for 18 fatalities. These two major categories accounted for 61 percent of all workplace fatalities in the state. (See table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were up from 28 over the year and worker fatalities due to falls, slips, or trips were up from 9.

Violence and other injuries by persons or animals was the third-most frequent fatal work event with 14 fatalities, down from 20 in the prior year. Contact with objects or equipment resulted in 11 work-related deaths, little changed from  2018.

Nationally, transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal workplace event in 2019, accounting for 40 percent of fatal work injuries. (See chart 2.) Violence Falls, slips, and trips was the second-most common fatal event (17 percent), followed by violence and other injuries by persons or animals (16 percent).

Industry

The private construction industry had the highest number of fatalities in Arizona with 23. (See table 2.)Transportation incidents resulted in 5 of the 23 fatalities in the industry. The heavy and civil engineering construction sector accounted for 3 of the 23 workplace fatalities in the construction industry.

The private transportation and warehousing industry had 19 workplace fatalities. The general freight trucking sector accounted for 11, or 58 percent, of the fatal injuries in this industry.

Occupation

The transportation and material moving occupational group had the highest number of workplace fatalities with 27. (See table 3.) Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 16 of the 27 fatalities among transportation and material moving workers. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second highest number of workplace fatalities with 20, followed by installation, maintenance, and repair occupations with 12. Construction laborers suffered nine of the work-related deaths within the construction and extraction occupational group. Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers accounted for 5 of the 12 installation, maintenance, and repair occupational fatalities.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 98 percent of the work-related fatalities in Arizona, compared to the national share of 92 percent. (See table 4.)
• Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 41 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 20 percent of work-related deaths.
• Workers 25-54 years old accounted for 59 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2019, compared to 55 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• Of the 94 fatal work injuries in Arizona, 85 percent worked for wages and salaries; the remainder were self-employed. The most frequent fatal event for both 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 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 2019 national data, over 25,100 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 on the BLS website at https://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 Industrial Commission of Arizona 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; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Arizona, 2018–19

Event or exposure (1)	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	82	94	100
Violence and other injuries by persons or animals	20	14	15
Intentional injury by person	18	12	13
Intentional injury by other person	17	5	5
Shooting by other person--intentional	13	3	3
Self-inflicted injury--intentional	--	7	7
Shooting--intentional self-harm	--	5	5
Transportation incidents	28	39	41
Aircraft incidents	3	7	7
Other in-flight crash	--	4	4
Other in-flight crash due to mechanical failure	--	2	2
Other in-flight crash into structure, object, or ground	--	2	2
Parachuting incident	3	3	3
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	17	21	22
Roadway collision with other vehicle	8	16	17
Roadway collision--moving in same direction	--	5	5
Roadway collision--moving in opposite directions, oncoming	4	6	6
Roadway collision--moving and standing vehicle on side of roadway	1	2	2
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	5	3	3
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	4	3	3
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	--	5	5
Fires and explosions	--	--	--
Falls, slips, trips	9	18	19
Falls on same level	--	3	3
Falls to lower level	6	15	16
Fall through surface or existing opening	--	3	3
Other fall to lower level	6	10	11
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	13	10	11
Exposure to other harmful substances	10	6	6
Contact with objects and equipment	12	11	12
Struck by object or equipment	9	5	5
Caught in or compressed by equipment or objects	3	3	3
Struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structure, equipment, or material	--	3	3
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, Arizona, 2019

Industry (1)	Number	Percent
Total	94	100
Private industry (2)	83	88
Goods producing	--	--
Natural resources and mining	5	5
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	5	5
Construction	23	24
Construction	23	24
Heavy and civil engineering construction	3	3
Service providing (3)	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	--	--
Wholesale trade	3	3
Transportation and warehousing	19	20
Truck transportation	12	13
General freight trucking	11	12
General freight trucking, long-distance	9	10
General freight trucking, long-distance, truckload	7	7
General freight trucking, long-distance, less than truckload	1	1
Specialized freight trucking	1	1
Specialized freight (except used goods) trucking, long-distance	1	1
Transit and ground passenger transportation	4	4
Taxi and limousine service	3	3
Taxi service	3	3
Other transit and ground passenger transportation	1	1
Other transit and ground passenger transportation	1	1
Couriers and messengers	1	1
Couriers and express delivery services	1	1
Couriers and express delivery services	1	1
Financial activities	--	--
Professional and business services	8	9
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	8	9
Administrative and support services	6	6
Educational and health services	--	--
Educational services	1	1
Educational services	1	1
Other schools and instruction	1	1
Sports and recreation instruction	1	1
Leisure and hospitality	--	--
Other services, except public administration	6	6
Other services, except public administration	6	6
Repair and maintenance	4	4
Government (4)	11	12
Federal government	7	7
State government	--	--
Local government	4	4
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, Arizona, 2019

Occupation (1)	Number	Percent
Total	94	100
Management occupations	3	3
Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers	1	1
Business and financial operations occupations	--	--
Computer and mathematical occupations	--	--
Architecture and engineering occupations	1	1
Engineers	1	1
Aerospace engineers	1	1
Aerospace engineers	1	1
Life, physical, and social science occupations	--	--
Community and social service occupations	--	--
Legal occupations	--	--
Educational instruction and library occupations	1	1
Other teachers and instructors	1	1
Self-enrichment teachers	1	1
Self-enrichment teachers	1	1
Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	2	2
Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers	2	2
Musicians, singers, and related workers	2	2
Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	--	--
Healthcare support occupations	--	--
Protective service occupations	4	4
Law enforcement workers	4	4
Police officers	2	2
Food preparation and serving related occupations	--	--
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	5	5
Grounds maintenance workers	3	3
Grounds maintenance workers	3	3
Personal care and service occupations	--	--
Sales and related occupations	--	--
Office and administrative support occupations	1	1
Supervisors of office and administrative support workers	1	1
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	1	1
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	1	1
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	4	4
Construction and extraction occupations	20	21
Construction trades workers	18	19
Construction laborers	9	10
Construction laborers	9	10
Roofers	3	3
Roofers	3	3
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	12	13
Supervisors of installation, maintenance, and repair workers	1	1
First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers	1	1
First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers	1	1
Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers	5	5
Other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	4	4
Production occupations	--	--
Transportation and material moving occupations	27	29
Motor vehicle operators	20	21
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	16	17
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers	16	17
Passenger vehicle drivers	4	4
Shuttle drivers and chauffeurs	1	1
Taxi drivers	3	3
Material moving workers	5	5
Military specific occupations (2)	7	7
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. (2) Includes fatal injuries to persons identified as resident armed forces regardless of individual occupation listed.
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, Arizona, 2018–19

Worker characteristics	2018	2019
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	82	94	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	71	80	85
Self-employed (2)	11	14	15
Gender
Men	69	92	98
Women	13	--	--
Age (3)
25 to 34 years	9	17	18
35 to 44 years	12	18	19
45 to 54 years	33	20	21
55 to 64 years	12	19	20
65 years and over	12	15	16
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	41	36	38
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	4	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	30	39	41
Asian, non-Hispanic	5	5	5
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.