Analysis Finds Declining Road Construction Injuries, Deaths

A new analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that deaths and injuries in the highway and bridge construction sector are falling.

Between 2011 and 2023, fatal injuries and non-fatal injuries in the highway, street and bridge sector fell, an analysis by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) found. The report said that fatal injuries in the HSB sector fell by 15 percent during the 12-year period, even though fatal injuries for the rest of the construction sector jumped 41 percent. For non-fatal injuries and illnesses in the HSB sector, cases per 1,000 workers fell to 46 percent, the analysis showed.

“While the fatal injury rates for HSB – defined as the number of fatalities per 1,000 workers - remained higher than the rate for overall construction during the same period, the HSB fatality rate dropped by 33 percent while the overall construction rate remained stagnant,” ARTBA said in its report.

ARTBA said its analysis shows that the HSB sector of the construction industry was making “measured progress in reducing worker deaths and injuries.”

According to the BLS, in 2023 the construction industry had the highest number of fatalities amongst all industry sectors and was the highest for the sector going back to 2011. The construction industry accounts for more than one fifth (21 percent) of all deaths among US workers. The death rate in the industry in 2021 was 9.4 per every 100,000 workers that year. Nearly two thirds (65.5 percent) of all construction deaths result from falls, being struck by something, electrocution, and being caught in equipment. A third of all fatal falls in the construction industry are from roofs.

Within the construction industry, slips, trips and falls accounted for nearly 40 percent of all construction fatalities, with transportation incidents accounting for just over 22 percent. Between 2021 and 2022, nonfatal workplace falls, slips, and trips by construction workers requiring at least one day away from work occurred at a rate of 31.5 per 10,000 full-time workers. The rate across all private industry was 22.6.

According to ARTBA, when comparing private sector and public sector employers, it was the public sector that had seen more improvement in reducing occupational deaths in HSB construction sector occupational death. Public sectors reduced deaths by 46 percent, while the private sector only saw a reduction of 3 percent.

The report said that while the total number of deaths for HSB increased between 2022 and 2023 by 14, the number of occupational deaths in roadway work zones across all industries decreased by 12.

Similarly, the group said, non-fatal injuries in the HSB sector has declined by 46 percent between 2011 and 2023, a trend that has mirrored across the construction industry.

In the construction industry, statistics show that the construction industry accounted for nearly 7 percent of all recordable nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in 2023, up from 6 percent in 2022. Construction recorded 2.3 non-fatal occupational injuries or illnesses per 100 full-time workers last year, a drop from 2.4 in 2022. The national average for all U.S. industries was 2.4. The raw number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses, however, increased 2.1 percent from 169,600 to 173,200, the BLS found.

ARTBA said its analysis shows that efforts by the transportation construction industry to improve jobsite safety are having a positive impact. However, the group said, the number of deaths and injuries is still high – 88 deaths in 2023 alone, but the downward trend is an indication of the organization’s partnerships with national agencies to improve jobsite safety.

“ARTBA, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other industry partners have worked together for many years to reduce the number of deaths and injuries in the HSB segment of the construction industry due to the hazardous exposures these workers face daily,” ARTBA said in a statement. “The data shows these efforts are having a positive effect in ensuring industry workers return home safely to their families and loved ones each day. While the numbers of deaths and injuries remain at unacceptable levels, the data shows that concerted efforts are having a positive impact, and that such cooperative and coordinated efforts should continue until we reach the desired goal of zero deaths.”

Officials with ARTBA said that as the industry gears up for the spring construction season, its members will continue to work to enhance internal safety programs.

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