Share of workplace deaths among Hispanic and Latino workers continued to rise in 2020

Hispanic and Latino workers accounted for 22.5 percent (1,072 deaths) of workplace deaths in 2020, up from 20.4 percent (1,088 deaths) in 2019. This is the fourth straight yearly increase since 2016.

Hispanic and Latino workers were the only publishable race and ethnicity group whose fatal injury rate rose, from 4.2 fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time workers in 2019 to 4.5 in 2020. The fatal injury rates for White (non-Hispanic), Asian (non-Hispanic), and Black or African-American (non-Hispanic) workers all dropped from 2019 to 2020.

From 2019 to 2020, the number of fatal work injuries to Hispanic and Latino workers decreased by 1.5 percent, while fatal injuries to all workers decreased by 10.7 percent. The number of fatal work injuries among Hispanic and Latino workers in selected occupations either declined by a smaller percentage than for all workers or increased. Fatal work injuries to Hispanic and Latino workers increased in construction and extraction occupations, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations, and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. Workplace deaths for all workers decreased in each of these occupations.

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more, see “National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2020.” We also have more charts on fatal work injuries. For information about COVID-19 and these data, see our Frequently Asked Questions on accessing our data.