The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigated 826 worker deaths in fiscal year (FY) 2024—an 11% reduction from 928 in the previous year, the agency announced November 4. FY 2024 ended September 30.
The agency noted significant decreases in the number of fatal injuries from trench collapses and falls, two of the leading causes of death among construction industry workers.
“These numbers are promising evidence that stronger enforcement and collaboration with labor and management, driven by the Biden-Harris administration’s worker-centered approach, is saving lives,” Douglas Parker, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said in a statement. “Most striking is the improvement in areas we have focused on with employers and unions. Our state program partners have also seen improvements.”
Excluding COVID-related deaths, the 2024 figure is the lowest number of worker fatalities OSHA has had to investigate since FY 2017, according to the agency.
OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) on falls, launched last year to address falls from height across all industries, saw fatal falls investigated by the federal agency drop from 234 to 189—a decrease of almost 20%. Preliminary data from state programs, which OSHA must validate, shows more than 15% less fatalities in state jurisdictions.
OSHA covers about 60% of private sector employees, and state programs cover the remaining workers.
Data from federal and state programs shows worker deaths in trench collapses have declined nearly 70% since calendar year 2022. Fatalities decreased from 39 in 2022 to 15 in 2023 and, to date, 12 in calendar year 2024. OSHA launched an enforcement push in 2022 in response to a spike in trenching and excavation fatalities. OSHA and its industry partners also launched outreach and education efforts.
The agency has had a trenching and excavation NEP since 2018.
“While fewer workers have died from the hazards OSHA investigates, we still lose more than 5,000 workers each year in largely preventable incidents,” Parker said.
DOL, OSHA file whistleblower suit against Pennsylvania manufacturer
The Department of Labor (DOL) filed suit against a York, Pennsylvania, manufacturer alleging the company wrongly terminated an employee who raised safety concerns when directed to use a ladder to move stock items despite believing a forklift would be safer.
OSHA investigators determined that Red Lion Controls Inc. violated the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by firing the employee for refusing to use a ladder to complete the task.
The worker reported that it wasn’t possible to maintain the required three points of contact to ensure ladder safety and needed to use a forklift. Investigators found that the company ignored the employee’s concerns and responded that the task could “easily” be done while on a ladder and suggested other employees were able to use a ladder to complete the task. The employee held firm and was terminated.
The DOL’s suit asks the court to hold Red Lion Controls liable for illegal retaliation, as well as reinstate the worker and pay damages and back pay.