Connecticut recorded the second-lowest number of work-related fatalities of all states in 2022. The number of work-related deaths increased slightly from the previous year but remains below the state’s annual average, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor.
There were 34 work-related deaths in 2022, an equivalent of 2 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. 53 percent of fatalities came from the construction industry and the transportation and warehousing industry, with 9 deaths apiece. There were also 4 deaths in the manufacturing industry, accounting for 11.8 percent of work-related fatalities in 2022. Other industries that saw fatalities were transportation and utilities, accounting for 9.4 percent, and construction, with 6.7 percent.
Connecticut’s deadliest industries for 2022 mirror those at the national level. There were 5,486 lives lost to workplace injuries in 2022, an increase from the previous year, with 1,069 deaths attributable to the construction industry and 1,053 to the transportation and warehousing industry. Deaths in both industries account for 39 percent of fatalities in 2022.
The number of work-related fatalities rose between 2021 and 2022 both in Connecticut and at the national level. In 2021, there were 23 work-related deaths in the state. Nationally, there were 5,190 work-related deaths in 2021, raising the fatal injury rate from 3.6 to 3.7 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.
While Connecticut’s rate of work-related deaths rose in 2022, the rate remains below the state’s annual average of 38, stretching back to 1992. 1998 is the deadliest year on record for work-related fatalities in the state, peaking at 57.
Only Rhode Island had a lower number of work-related deaths in 2022, averaging 1.4 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Texas had the highest number of work-related deaths in 2022, at 578.
Of work-related fatalities in 2022, transportation accidents accounted for the highest percentage of deaths. There were 12 transportation-related deaths in Connecticut in 2022, accounting for 35 percent of deaths. Ten of the individuals killed were drivers of heavy vehicles or tractor-trailers. Transportation accidents have accounted for the most work-related deaths in the state since at least 2018 when there were 19 transportation incidents, 8 involving a collision with another vehicle.
Nationally, transportation-related deaths also account for the largest percentage of deaths, 48.8 percent in 2022. 1,620 workers were killed in the transportation and material moving occupations in that year.
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