Increase in Work-Related Fatal Injuries in 2015 – North Dakota the Highest

According to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, in 2015 the number of work-related fatal injuries increased nationally. There were 4,836 work-related fatal injuries in the United States and 150 work-related fatal injuries in North Carolina compared to 4,821 in 2014.

After the oil-and-gas industry’s sharp increase in work-related fatal injuries in 2014, the industry saw a 38 percent drop in 2015. The occupation with the most reported work-related fatal injuries was “heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers” with 745. However, logging workers’ had the highest work-related fatal injury rate at 132.7 per 100,000 workers’.

North Dakota reported the highest work-related fatal injury rate at 12.5 per 100,000 workers’ and Rhode Island recorded the lowest rate at 1.2 per 100,000 workers’. North Carolina’s 2015 work-related fatal injury rate was 3.4 per 100,000 workers’, with a total of 150 fatalities. In 2014, North Carolina had 137 work-related fatal injuries.

2015 Fatal Occupational Injuries Counts and Rates by State of Incident