Workplace Fatalities for Women Increased Sharply in 2021

New statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that in 2021, 5,190 American workers died after suffering injuries while working. This was up by nearly 9 percent from 2020 when many workers were unemployed or worked from home due to the pandemic. The fatal work injury rate was 3.6 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, up from 3.4 per 100,000 n 2020 and up from the 2019 pre-pandemic rate of 3.5.

When we break down the figures by gender, we see that 446 women died from work related-injuries in 2021. This was up 15.2 percent from 2020, significantly higher than the overall increase. Women were 8.6 percent of all work-related fatalities due to injury in 2021, up from 8.1 percent in 2020. In 2019, before the pandemic, women were 8.2 percent of all fatalities suffered at work. Construction workers and transportation workers were the most likely to suffer fatal work-related injuries. Women make up a small percentage of all workers in these occupations.

While women make up a low percentage of all work-related fatalities due to injuries, the number of deaths of women had been increasing until the pandemic struck. In 2016, 387 women died as a result of work-related injuries, the same number as in 2020.

While women were just 8.6 percent of all work-related fatalities, they made up 14.5 percent of fatalities as a result of intentional injuries inflicted by a person in 2021.