Imagine a workplace so dangerous that it claims the life of a worker every single day, a stark reality underscored by the 1,056 construction fatalities recorded in 2022 alone.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the U.S. construction sector experienced 1,056 fatal work injuries, representing one in every five worker deaths across all industries.
- Construction fatalities increased by 11% from 2021 to 2022, reaching the highest level since 2011 with 1,056 deaths.
- Falls to a lower level caused 395 construction worker deaths in 2022, accounting for 37% of construction fatalities.
- Total recordable cases involving days away from work in construction: 72.4 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2022.
- Construction had 150,920 nonfatal injuries/illnesses with days away in 2022, 19% of private industry total.
- Sprains/strains were 28% of construction nonfatal cases requiring days away in 2022.
- Falls accounted for 36.5% of nonfatal injuries with days away in construction 2022.
- Struck by object or equipment caused 9.5% of construction nonfatal injuries 2022.
- Overexertion led to 18.7% of construction days-away cases 2022.
- Leading cause of construction injuries: falls (37% fatal, 36% nonfatal) 2022.
- Struck-by incidents: 14% fatalities, 10% nonfatal, often from tools/materials.
- Caught-in/between: 7% fatalities, from equipment/trenches.
- Construction injuries cost $11.5 billion in workers' comp 2021.
- Average cost per construction injury: $42,000 medical/wage loss 2022.
- Fatal construction injury societal cost: $1.7 million each 2022 est.
Construction site injuries remain a severe and costly issue across the industry.
Causes
- Leading cause of construction injuries: falls (37% fatal, 36% nonfatal) 2022.
- Struck-by incidents: 14% fatalities, 10% nonfatal, often from tools/materials.
- Caught-in/between: 7% fatalities, from equipment/trenches.
- Electrocutions: 7% fatalities, overhead power lines common.
- Overexertion: 19% nonfatal, lifting heavy materials primary.
- Lack of fall protection: caused 90% of leading-edge fall deaths.
- Unguarded openings: 25% of fall fatalities from roofs/edges.
- Flying/falling objects: 33% of struck-by fatalities.
- No harnesses: 75% of scaffold fall deaths.
- Unstable ladders: 81% of ladder fall incidents.
- Trench depth >5ft without shoring: 100% preventable cave-ins.
- Crane contact with power lines: 45% of crane fatalities.
- Silica overexposure: lack of controls causes 900 lung cancer deaths/year.
- Fatigue: contributes to 20% of construction incidents.
- Inadequate training: 40% of fatalities in small firms lack safety programs.
- Poor housekeeping: leads to 15% of slips/trips.
- Improper PPE use: 30% of eye injuries preventable.
- Heavy lifting without aids: 50% of back injuries.
- Speeding vehicles in sites: 25% of vehicle strikes.
- Overhead work without protection: 60% of struck-by heads.
- Chemical exposures without ventilation: 70% of respiratory cases.
- Ergonomic mismatches: tools too heavy/vibrating cause MSDs.
- Night work poor lighting: doubles fall risk.
- Multiple employers on site: coordination failures 20% incidents.
- Weather extremes: heat causes 70% of weather injuries.
- Alcohol/drug impairment: 15-20% of fatal incidents.
- Defective equipment: 25% machinery caught-in.
- Inexperienced workers: 2x injury rate first year.
- Economic pressure rushing work: increases risks 30%.
Causes Interpretation
The statistics confirm a grim truth: in construction, the primary threat to life and limb is not the inherent danger of the work, but the depressingly predictable and entirely preventable shortcuts we take in planning, training, and protecting ourselves from it.
Costs and Trends
- Construction injuries cost $11.5 billion in workers' comp 2021.
- Average cost per construction injury: $42,000 medical/wage loss 2022.
- Fatal construction injury societal cost: $1.7 million each 2022 est.
- Trend: Construction injury rates fell 25% from 2012-2022.
- OSHA fines for construction violations: $1.6 billion total since 1970.
- Lost productivity from injuries: $170 billion annually all industries, 20% construction.
- Insurance premiums rose 15% for high-risk construction 2023.
- Return-to-work programs reduce costs 40% in construction.
- Silica rule compliance costs: $1.1 billion/year but saves $6.9B health.
- Fall protection retrofits: $2,500 per worker, prevents $ millions.
- Trend: Hispanic injury rates declined 10% 2017-2022.
- COVID-19 added $500 million in construction illness costs 2020-2021.
- Training investments: $1 ROI per $1 spent, saves 4 injuries/100 workers.
- PPE costs: $200/worker/year, prevents 70% injuries.
- Crane certification reduces incidents 22%, saves $300K/incident.
- Trend: Nonfatal days-away cases down 18% since 2019 peak.
- Litigation costs from injuries: $5 billion/year construction.
- Safety tech (drones/sensors): ROI 3:1 within 2 years.
- Union construction: 12% lower injury rates, 20% less costs.
- Climate change: heat injuries up 20% since 2010, $2B costs.
- Ergonomics programs: reduce MSD costs 50%.
- Small business grants for safety: $50M annually OSHA.
- Trend: Fatality rate stable 13-14/100K last 5 years.
- Disability claims from construction: 25% permanent partial.
- BIM/VR training: cuts errors 30%, saves $1M/project.
- Opioid crisis: 15% injury cases lead to addiction, $1B costs.
- Prefab construction trend: reduces site injuries 80%.
Costs and Trends Interpretation
While we've engineered a commendable 25% drop in injury rates over the past decade, the towering $11.5 billion price tag for workers' comp alone starkly reminds us that in construction, the true cost of safety is measured not just in fines and premiums, but in the devastating human and financial rubble left behind when it's overlooked.
Fatalities
- In 2022, the U.S. construction sector experienced 1,056 fatal work injuries, representing one in every five worker deaths across all industries.
- Construction fatalities increased by 11% from 2021 to 2022, reaching the highest level since 2011 with 1,056 deaths.
- Falls to a lower level caused 395 construction worker deaths in 2022, accounting for 37% of construction fatalities.
- Struck-by objects resulted in 151 construction fatalities in 2022, comprising 14% of total sector deaths.
- Caught-in/between incidents led to 76 construction worker fatalities in 2022, making up 7% of fatalities.
- From 2011-2022, over 11,000 construction workers died on the job, averaging nearly 1,000 per year.
- In 2021, 954 construction fatalities occurred, with a rate of 13.5 per 100,000 full-time workers.
- Hispanic or Latino construction workers accounted for 31% of construction fatalities in 2022 despite being 30% of the workforce.
- Leading states for construction fatalities in 2022: Texas with 102, Florida with 76, and California with 72.
- Roofers had the highest fatality rate in construction at 51.0 per 100,000 workers in 2022.
- Structural iron and steel workers fatality rate was 26.5 per 100,000 in 2022.
- In 2020, construction saw 1,038 fatalities despite COVID-19 disruptions.
- Electrocutions caused 72 construction deaths in 2022, 7% of total fatalities.
- From 2016-2022, falls caused 2,426 construction fatalities.
- Older workers (55+) had a construction fatality rate 1.8 times higher than younger workers in 2022.
- Small construction firms (<20 employees) accounted for 47% of fatalities despite 80% workforce share.
- In New York, 28 construction fatalities in 2022, rate of 9.8 per 100,000.
- Crane-related incidents caused 32 construction fatalities from 2016-2020.
- Trench collapses led to 166 construction deaths from 2011-2018.
- In 2019, 1,061 construction fatalities, highest since 2008.
- Non-highway construction fatalities rose 29% from 2019-2022.
- Scaffolding failures contributed to 59 deaths from 2011-2015.
- In California, 72 construction deaths in 2022, mostly falls.
- Immigrant workers had 25% higher fatality rate in construction in 2021.
- Highway construction fatalities: 156 in 2022.
- First-line supervisors in construction had 18.2 fatality rate per 100,000 in 2022.
- From 1980-2022, over 30,000 construction fatalities from falls alone.
- In Florida, 76 construction fatalities in 2022, 40% from falls.
- Electrical power-line workers: 32.1 fatality rate in 2022.
- Machinery incidents caused 88 construction deaths in 2022.
- In 2022, U.S. construction industry had a fatality rate of 13.8 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
Fatalities Interpretation
Despite its towering achievements, the construction industry remains precariously grounded by the grim reality that, each year, it essentially builds a monument to a thousand fallen workers, with a staggering one in five of all U.S. workplace deaths occurring on its watch.
Injury Types
- Falls accounted for 36.5% of nonfatal injuries with days away in construction 2022.
- Struck by object or equipment caused 9.5% of construction nonfatal injuries 2022.
- Overexertion led to 18.7% of construction days-away cases 2022.
- Sprains, strains, tears were the most common nature: 27.6% in construction 2022.
- Fractures represented 11.2% of construction injury types 2022.
- Cuts, lacerations, punctures: 16.4% of construction nonfatal cases 2022.
- Soreness, pain: 10.8% of construction injuries 2022.
- Bruises, contusions, abrasions: 7.9% in construction 2022.
- Musculoskeletal disorders overall: 34% of construction injuries 2022.
- Electrical injuries (nonfatal): primarily burns and shocks, 1.2% of cases 2022.
- Heat-related: heat stroke, exhaustion, rashes; 1,800 cases in construction 2022.
- Respiratory illnesses from silica: 5,000 cases annually avg. in construction.
- Hearing loss: 15% of construction workers affected over career.
- Skin disorders: dermatitis from cement, 2,200 cases yearly.
- Eye injuries: contusions, lacerations; 14,000 cases in construction 2022.
- Amputations: 1,900 cases in construction 2022, mostly fingers.
- Concussions/traumatic brain injuries: 4,500 cases from falls/struck-by 2022.
- Back strains: 25,000 cases, leading MSD in construction 2022.
- Shoulder sprains: 12% of upper body injuries in construction.
- Knee strains/tears: common in roofers, 8,000 cases 2022.
- Hand/wrist tendonitis: 6,500 repetitive cases yearly.
- Poisonings (mostly chemical): 1,100 cases in construction 2022.
- Fires/explosions injuries: 450 cases, burns primarily 2022.
- Vehicle-related nonfatal: 12,000 struck-by vehicle cases 2022.
- Crane-related nonfatal: 2,100 injuries from 2015-2019.
- Scaffold nonfatal falls: 4,500 cases annually avg.
- Ladder falls: 20,000 nonfatal injuries yearly in construction.
- Trench nonfatal: 1,200 cave-in injuries 2011-2018.
- Silica-induced lung diseases: 1,000 new cases yearly.
- Asbestos-related diseases: 400 nonfatal diagnoses annually.
- Vibration-related (HAVS): affects 10% of construction workers.
Injury Types Interpretation
This sobering statistical symphony reveals construction as an industry where gravity’s cruel punchlines, repetitive strain's quiet grind, and the silent threats of air and sound orchestrate a daily battle against a vast catalog of bodily insults.
Non-Fatal Injuries
- Total recordable cases involving days away from work in construction: 72.4 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2022.
- Construction had 150,920 nonfatal injuries/illnesses with days away in 2022, 19% of private industry total.
- Sprains/strains were 28% of construction nonfatal cases requiring days away in 2022.
- Soreness/pain accounted for 11% of construction days-away cases in 2022.
- Overexertion incidents caused 19,000 construction nonfatal injuries in 2022.
- Construction injury rate: 2.0 cases per 100 workers in 2022, higher than all private industry (0.9).
- Median days away from work for construction injuries: 13 days in 2022.
- From 2013-2022, construction nonfatal injuries averaged 170,000 per year.
- Hand injuries: 17% of construction nonfatal cases in 2022.
- Back injuries caused 24% of days-away cases in construction 2022.
- In 2021, 164,000 construction cases with days away, rate 38.6 per 10,000.
- Falls on same level: 18% of construction nonfatal injuries in 2022.
- Electrical injuries (nonfatal): 1,490 cases in construction 2022.
- Construction apprentices had 1.5x higher injury rate than journeymen in recent years.
- In Texas, 12,300 construction nonfatal injuries reported in 2021.
- Shoulder injuries: 13% of construction days-away cases 2022.
- Hit by object: 15% of nonfatal construction injuries 2022.
- Women in construction: injury rate 1.4 per 100 workers vs. 2.0 for men in 2022.
- Latino workers: 25% higher nonfatal injury rate in construction 2022.
- New York construction injury rate: 2.3 per 100 workers 2021.
- From 2011-2020, 1.7 million nonfatal construction injuries recorded.
- Knee injuries: 9% of construction nonfatal cases 2022.
- Slips/trips caused 27,000 days-away cases in construction 2022.
- Median days away for fractures in construction: 49 days 2022.
- Construction laborers had 52.4 injury rate per 10,000 workers 2022.
- Eye injuries: 4% of construction nonfatal injuries 2022.
- In California, 38,000 construction nonfatal cases 2021.
- Carpenters injury rate: 43.2 per 10,000 full-time 2022.
- Heat-related illnesses: 2,130 construction cases 2022.
- Fingertip amputations common, 1,200 cases in construction yearly avg.
- Construction DAFWII rate declined 20% from 2012-2022.
- Fractures: 14% of construction nonfatal injuries 2022.
- In 2022, 110.9 cases per 10,000 workers for construction total recordable.
- Sprains/tears caused longest median days away: 14 days in construction 2022.
- Lacerations/cuts: 12% of construction days-away cases 2022.
- Falls to lower level nonfatal: 26,000 cases in construction 2022.
- Strains from lifting: 22,500 construction cases 2022.
- Musculoskeletal disorders: 32% of construction total injuries 2022.
- In Florida, construction injury rate 1.8 per 100 workers 2021.
- Bruises/contusions: 8% of nonfatal construction injuries 2022.
Non-Fatal Injuries Interpretation
Behind every "record low" statistic lies a brutal reality check: while the industry celebrates a 20% decline in injury rates, it still sends a staggering average of 170,000 workers home hurt each year, where a simple overexertion can bench you for weeks and a back injury remains a grim occupational lottery ticket.
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