Transportation leads workplace fatalities in 2016

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Updated Jan 12, 2018
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Workers in the transportation and material moving industries accounted for the most workplace fatalities in 2016.Workers in the transportation and material moving industries accounted for the most workplace fatalities in 2016.

Truck drivers and other transportation and material moving occupations accounted for more than a quarter of all work-related fatalities in the U.S. in 2016, according to the latest data from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

According to BLS figures, 786 truck drivers were killed on the job in 2016. That’s 78 percent of the 1,012 motor vehicle operator fatalities reported for that year.

In sum, there were 1,388 fatal injuries in transportation and material moving occupations in 2016, a 7 percent increase over the 1,301 fatalities in 2015, BLS reports. Across all occupations in the U.S., there were 5,190 fatalities reported, an increase from 4,846 in 2015.

The 5,190 people killed on the job in 2016 are the most since 2008, when there were 5,214 workplace fatalities.

Other jobs with high fatalities in 2016 include:

  • Construction – 970 fatalities
  • Service industry – 787 fatalities
  • Installation, maintenance and repair – 470 fatalities
  • Management, business and financial operations – 404 fatalities
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