Idaho had 48 workplace fatalities in 2023 — a 23% increase from 2022 and the highest number of deaths in a single year in the past 10 years — according to the most recent Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report on 2023 data.
The annual report documents fatal on-the-job injuries for workers — it does not include illnesses or preexisting conditions that caused a worker to die without an injury, like COVID or a heart attack.
The occupational group with the most fatal injuries was transportation and material moving at 31% of all fatalities — a 67% increase from 2022. Of the 15 fatalities for that group in 2023, 12 were classified as a transportation incident.
The occupational group with the second most fatal injuries in 2023 was construction and extraction with nine fatalities (approximately 19% of all fatalities) in which three were related to transportation incidents.
Transportation incidents accounted for 50% of all fatal injuries— a 71% increase from 2022. Contact incidents — fatalities caused by being struck by something or making contact with something — were the second most common cause of death at approximately 21%, which is a 100% increase from last year.
