A Worker Dies in America Every 104 Minutes, New Study on Workplace Danger Reveals

A new study from John Foy & Associates analyzing 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data has found that 5,070 U.S. workers were killed on the job last year, meaning a worker died from a work-related injury every 104 minutes. Private industry employers also reported 2.5 million workplace injuries and illnesses, a rate of 2.3 cases per 100 full-time workers.

The financial toll was staggering: $181.4 billion, including $54.9 billion in lost wages and productivity and $36.8 billion in medical expenses, with each worker death carrying an average cost of $1,540,000. Spread across the workforce, the economic burden works out to roughly $1,120 per worker every year in rising insurance premiums, healthcare costs, and lost economic output.

“The 2024 data confirms what workers in America’s most dangerous industries already know: workplace safety is not improving,” said a spokesperson for John Foy & Associates, which conducted the study. “And for millions of workers, the cost of going to work is measured not in dollars but in lives.”

Natural resources and mining leads the danger rankings

The study found that natural resources and mining recorded the highest fatal injury rate of any U.S. sector in 2024, at 19.2 deaths per 100,000 workers, driven by 567 fatalities among agricultural laborers, loggers, commercial fishermen, and oil and gas extraction crews. Isolation, heavy machinery, and slow emergency response times all compound the danger these workers face.

Construction ranked second with a fatality rate of 12.8 per 100,000 workers and the highest raw death count of any industry at 1,034, primarily from falls, slips, and trips. Transportation and warehousing followed closely at 12.6 per 100,000 workers and 865 fatalities, largely tied to vehicle-related incidents affecting truck drivers, delivery workers, and warehouse staff.

Utilities, manufacturing, wholesale trade, government, retail trade, leisure and hospitality, and financial activities rounded out the top ten, each shaped by distinct hazards ranging from high voltage equipment to workplace violence against customer-facing employees.

Transportation incidents are the number one killer

Across all industries, transportation incidents caused 1,937 deaths in 2024, 38.2% of all occupational fatalities, making it by far the leading cause of workplace death. Falls, slips, and trips followed at 16.6% (844 deaths), contact incidents with machinery at 14.9% (756 deaths), violent acts at 14.5% (733 deaths), and exposure to harmful substances at 13.6% (687 deaths).

Geography and demographics shape the risk

Wyoming emerged as the nation’s most dangerous state for workers, with a fatality rate of 13.9 per 100,000, more than four times the national average of 3.3, driven by its concentration of agriculture, mining, and energy extraction work. Mississippi, Alaska, North Dakota, and Arkansas rounded out the top five most dangerous states, all sharing similarly rural, resource-dependent economies.

The study also uncovered stark demographic disparities. Men accounted for 91.9% of all occupational fatalities, reflecting their concentration in high-risk fields like construction and transportation. Hispanic or Latino workers, however, recorded the highest fatality rate of any demographic group for the eighth consecutive year, at 4.3 per 100,000 workers, about 30% above the national average, with foreign-born workers making up 68.5% of those deaths.

On the nonfatal side, health care and social assistance ranked as the most injury-prone industry in the country, accounting for 553,800 nonfatal cases, 22.3% of all private industry injuries and illnesses, driven by patient handling demands, workplace violence, and long shifts on a workforce that is disproportionately female and underpaid.

The study’s authors argue that the persistence of these patterns year after year points to systemic gaps in employer oversight and safety infrastructure rather than isolated incidents.