How many construction workers die each year in the US?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1,034 fatal work injuries in private construction in 2024, down from 1,075 in 2023. Summed by MapTrack, the 2015 to 2024 total was 10,140, 19.7% of all US fatal work injuries. Including construction workers employed by government, BLS's database counts 1,064 for 2024.
What is the leading cause of death in construction?
Falls. In private construction, falls, slips and trips killed 389 of the 1,034 workers who died from work injuries in 2024, and 373 of those were falls to a lower level. Transportation incidents were next with 244, then exposure to harmful substances or environments with 187 and contact incidents with 161 (BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries). By MapTrack's calculation, falls were 37.6% of the total, and at least 286 of the 373 falls to a lower level were from 6 feet or higher.
What is the fatality rate in construction?
Private construction had 9.2 fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2024, which by MapTrack's division is 2.8 times the rate for all US workers (3.3). Of the construction occupations in BLS's rate table, roofers had the highest rate, 48.7 per 100,000, followed by structural iron and steel workers (37.8) and construction trades helpers (35.8).
What percentage of workplace deaths happen in construction?
About one in five, by MapTrack's calculation from BLS data. Private construction accounted for 1,034 of the 5,070 fatal work injuries in the US in 2024 (20.4%), and its share ranged from 18.9% to 21.2% in every year from 2015 to 2024. It accounted for 46.1% of all fatal falls, slips and trips in 2024 (389 of 844), and for between 42.7% and 47.6% in each year from 2015 for which BLS published the figure.
What are OSHA's Focus Four hazards in construction?
OSHA's Construction Focus Four training covers falls, struck-by, caught-in or -between, and electrocution hazards. BLS does not count deaths under those four names, and its event categories do not map one-to-one onto them. Its closest categories for private construction in 2024: falls, slips and trips 389; struck by a propelled, falling or suspended object 79; workers on foot struck by vehicles 67, which BLS counts as transportation incidents; running powered equipment 35, a category that mixes being struck by and caught in machinery; collapse or engulfment 37; and exposure to electricity 52.
What is the most cited OSHA standard in construction?
Duty to have fall protection, 29 CFR 1926.501. Its paragraph (b)(1) covers workers on a surface with an unprotected side or edge “6 feet (1.8 m) or more above a lower level”. Federal OSHA cited it 6,777 times in construction in fiscal 2025, with US$45.0 million in current penalties, followed by ladders (1926.1053, 2,759) and fall protection training (1926.503, 2,172). Standards in OSHA's construction Subparts L (scaffolds), M (fall protection) and X (stairways and ladders) drew 60.0% of the 26,559 construction citations, by MapTrack's calculation.
How many construction workers are injured each year?
Private construction employers reported 167,100 recordable injuries and illnesses in 2024, 2.2 per 100 full-time equivalent workers, and 67,500 cases that involved days away from work (BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses). The rate for all private industry was 2.3.
Do these figures include State Plan OSHA citations?
No. OSHA's enforcement table on this page counts federal OSHA citations only. States that run their own OSHA-approved State Plans, such as California, Washington and Michigan, report separately. The BLS fatality and injury figures cover the whole country.
