In the US, homicides on the job have become more and more of a danger in recent years. Nearly 20 American workers were shot and killed at their workplaces from the beginning of this year through June. according to data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In January alone, seven immigrant farm workers wash fatally shot by a former employee in California, and a 26-year-old car wash employee in Texas shot by his colleague.
Comprehensive data on workplace deaths in 2023 won’t be released until the end of next year, but a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report published Tuesday (December 19) shows that violent worker deaths from assault by humans or animals increased by 12% from 2021 to 2022. And most of them were murders.
Nearly 5,500 US workplace deaths were reported in 2022. Black and Latinx workers saw death rates rise again last year. Black Americans, in particular, were overrepresented among the victims of violence deaths. These workers accounted for 23.4% of all such deaths, even if they made up only 13% of the workforce. Even more shocking, 33.4% of reported workplace homicide victims were black.
A disproportionate number of women also died by homicide. While only 8% of all workplace deaths were women, they accounted for 15% of intentional homicides.
Most of the homicide victims died while waiting for customers, the BLS noted.
More deadly details, by the numbers
96 minutes: How long it takes for the US to count at least one death on the job
524: Deaths by homicide among US workers in 2022
525: Accidental overdose leading to US deaths in 2022, a 13% increase from 2021. Overdose deaths increasing since 2012
1 369: US deaths caused by road accidents
A note on the numbers
As a result of regulations around which worker deaths count as “work-related,” the number of deaths reported by the BLS is likely an underestimate. Illnesses and injuries are also severely underreported by employers in the private sector. While the agency reported 2.8 million injuries and illnesses in 2022, the true number is probably between 5 million and 8 million each year, according to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). Still, the BLS report is useful for understanding patterns in worker deaths.
Historically, black and Latinx employees have been more likely to die on the job than their white counterparts, with farming, construction and transportation consistently ranked as the deadliest industries. Men are also much more likely to die on the job than women.
