Fatal work injuries totaled 60 in 2020 for Oregon, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Oregon was down from the previous year. (See chart 1.) Fatal occupational injuries in the state have ranged from a high of 88 in 1992 to a low of 43 in 2012

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 Oregon, transportation incidents resulted in 24 fatal work injuries, and both falls, slips, or trips and contact with objects or equipment accounted for 10 fatalities. These three major categories accounted for 73 percent of all fatal workplace injuries in the state. (See chart 2 and table 1.) Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 32 over the year. Worker fatalities due to falls, slips, or trips were down from 16. Worker deaths from contact with objects or equipment were down from 12 in the prior year.

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 Oregon with 12. (See table 2.) Transportation incidents resulted in 8 of the 12 fatalities in the industry. The truck transportation subsector accounted for 7 of the 12 fatal workplace injuries in the transportation and warehousing industry.

The private agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry sector and the private construction industry sector each had 10 fatal workplace injuries. The crop production and forestry and logging subsectors each accounted for four of the fatal injuries in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry. Specialty trade contractors accounted for 7 of the 10 construction fatalities.

Occupation

The transportation and warehousing occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 17. (See table 3.) Motor vehicle operators and material moving workers each accounted for 7 of the 17 fatalities among transportation and warehousing workers. The construction and extraction occupational group had the second highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 12, followed by building and grounds cleaning and maintenance and farming, fishing, and forestry occupations with 7 each.

Additional highlights:

• Men accounted for 92 percent of the work-related fatalities in Oregon, to the same as the national share. (See table 4.) Contact with objects and equipment incidents made up 18 percent of the fatalities for men in Oregon.
• White non-Hispanics accounted for 65 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 53 percent of the state’s work-related fatalities in 2020, compared to 56 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.
• Of the 60 fatal work injuries in Oregon, 77 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 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 on the BLS website 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 Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services 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, Oregon, 2019–20

Event or exposure (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	69	60	100
Transportation incidents	32	24	40
Aircraft incidents	--	2	3
Aircraft crash during takeoff or landing	--	1	2
Other in-flight crash	1	1	2
Other in-flight crash into structure, object, or ground	1	1	2
Pedestrian vehicular incident	6	4	7
Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle	16	12	20
Roadway collision with object other than vehicle	5	5	8
Vehicle struck object or animal on side of roadway	5	5	8
Nonroadway incident involving motorized land vehicles	4	5	8
Falls, slips, trips	16	10	17
Exposure to harmful substances or environments	3	7	12
Contact with objects and equipment	12	10	17
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, Oregon, 2020

Industry (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	69	60	100
Private industry (2)	65	56	93
Goods producing	--	--	--
Natural resources and mining	16	11	18
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	16	10	17
Crop production	3	4	7
Forestry and logging	5	4	7
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (3)	--	1	2
Support activities for mining	--	1	2
Support activities for mining	--	1	2
Support activities for mining	--	1	2
Support activities for metal mining	--	1	2
Construction	--	10	17
Construction	--	10	17
Heavy and civil engineering construction	--	3	5
Specialty trade contractors	--	7	12
Foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors	--	4	7
Other specialty trade contractors	--	3	5
Manufacturing	--	5	8
Manufacturing	--	5	8
Miscellaneous manufacturing	--	1	2
Service providing (4)	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	20	--	--
Retail trade	6	2	3
Food and beverage stores	3	1	2
Grocery stores	3	1	2
Miscellaneous store retailers	--	1	2
Other miscellaneous store retailers	--	1	2
All other miscellaneous store retailers	--	1	2
Transportation and warehousing	11	12	20
Truck transportation	9	7	12
Warehousing and storage	--	3	5
Warehousing and storage	--	3	5
Financial activities	--	--	--
Finance and insurance	--	1	2
Credit intermediation and related activities	--	1	2
Nondepository credit intermediation	--	1	2
Other nondepository credit intermediation	--	1	2
Professional and business services	--	6	10
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services	--	6	10
Leisure and hospitality	7	3	5
Accommodation and food services	--	3	5
Food services and drinking places	--	3	5
Other services, except public administration	1	1	2
Other services, except public administration	1	1	2
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations	--	1	2
Religious organizations	--	1	2
Religious organizations	--	1	2
Federal government	1	2	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) Includes fatal injuries at all establishments categorized as Mining (Sector 21) in the North American Industry Classification System, including establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction. (4) Cases where industry is unknown are included in the service sector counts.
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, Oregon, 2020

Occupation (1)	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	69	60	100
Management occupations	6	4	7
Community and social service occupations	--	1	2
Religious workers	--	1	2
Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	--	7	12
Grounds maintenance workers	--	4	7
Grounds maintenance workers	--	4	7
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	11	7	12
Forest, conservation, and logging workers	4	3	5
Logging workers	4	3	5
Construction and extraction occupations	16	12	20
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	4	3	5
Transportation and material moving occupations	19	17	28
Motor vehicle operators	15	7	12
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers	--	7	12
Material moving workers	--	7	12
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, Oregon, 2019–20

Worker characteristics	2019	2020
	Number	Number	Percent
Total	69	60	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	55	46	77
Self-employed (2)	14	14	23
Gender
Men	57	55	92
Women	12	5	8
Age (3)
20 to 24 years	5	6	10
25 to 34 years	6	11	18
35 to 44 years	11	11	18
45 to 54 years	17	10	17
55 to 64 years	14	13	22
65 years and over	16	9	15
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	55	39	65
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	11	13	22
Asian, non-Hispanic	--	4	7
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.