Thirty-four workers were fatally injured on the job in Connecticut in 2022, up 47% from 23 in 2021, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this week.
There were nine fatalities each in the private construction and private transportation and warehousing industry sectors, up from six and four in the previous year, according to the report.
Five of the nine fatalities in the construction industry were due to falls, slips and trips. Six of the nine fatalities in the transportation and warehousing industry were the result of “transportation incidents.”
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers accounted for 10, or nearly a third, of worker fatalities in Connecticut in 2022.
Men accounted for 94% of the work-related fatalities in Connecticut, on par with the national rate.
Across all industries in Connecticut, transportation incidents were to blame for 12 fatal workplace injuries – 35% of all such deaths in 2022, according to the BLS.
Also, contact with objects and equipment resulted in six fatalities – the same as in 2021. Violence and other injuries caused by persons or animals resulted in five work-related deaths in Connecticut in 2022, compared to two in the previous year.
Fatal occupational injuries in Connecticut have ranged from a high of 57 in 1998 to a low of 23 in 2021, according to the BLS.
Nationally, there were 5,486 fatal work injuries in 2022, a 5.7% increase from 5,190 in 2021.
In Connecticut and nationwide, transportation incidents were the most common fatal event in 2022.
Connecticut had higher rates of worker deaths due to contact with objects and equipment, and falls, slips and trips, than the nation as a whole. But the state had a lower rate of worker deaths caused by violence and other injuries caused by persons or animals.
