Workplace Deaths In PA Reach Highest Level In Nearly 10 Years

PENNSYLVANIA - More Pennsylvania workers died as a result of workplace injuries in 2022 than in any other year in nearly a decade, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last month.

One hundred eighty-three Keystone State workers were mortally wounded in 2022, with 77 incidents stemming from transportation-related incidents. Of those transportation-related incidents, 29 involved roadway collisions with another vehicle and 19 collisions involved a struck animal or object on the side of the roadway.

Twenty four other deaths were attributed to falls, slips or trips; 19 deaths involved a victim struck by an object or equipment and 27 stemmed from exposure to harmful substances or environments, according to the data.

The 183 fatal injuries is the highest number of injuries Pennsylvania has recorded since 2013, which saw 183 deadly workplace injuries reported.

2022 workplace deaths in Pennsylvania were largely represented by private sector employees, according to the data. 169 victims were employed privately, while one victim worked for the federal government and 10 worked for local governments.

Roughly 123,000 nonfatal workplace injuries were reported in the state in the private industry; another 3,400 injuries were reported impacting those working for the state government.

‘Sobering’ Stats Nationwide, OSHA Says

The Pennsylvania data reflects national trends, which saw a 5.7% increase from fatal work injuries in 2021. In fact, a U.S. worker died every 96 minutes from a work-related injury in 2022 compared to 101 minutes in 2021, according to the government data.

Texas saw the highest number of incidents in 2022 at 578 workplace deaths; California, Florida and New York followed behind at 504, 307 and 251 deaths, respectively. Pennsylvania ranked in seventh place for total fatal workplace injuries.

Black and Hispanic workers saw the highest increases in fatality rates nationwide, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) officials said. Black workers’ fatality rate increased 12.4 percent and Hispanic workers’ rate rose by 10.4 percent from last year.

The latest nationwide statistics serve as “a sobering reminder of the important work we must do, especially for Black and Hispanic workers who saw the largest increase in workplace fatalities,” OSHA said in a statement.

In Pennsylvania, 27 Black non-Hispanic workers died in 2022, up 50 percent from 18 deaths in 2021. The fatality rate decreased in the Keystone State for Hispanic workers in 2022, down more than 23 percent, with 16 workplace deaths in 2022.

Transportation incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal event in the U.S., accounting for 37.7 percent of all occupational fatalities, according to the data. There were 2,066 fatal injuries from transportation incidents in 2022, a 4.2 percent increase from 1,982 in 2021.

In Pennsylvania, transportation-related occupational deaths also spiked, up 30.5 percent from 59 deaths in 2021 and up 24 percent from 62 deaths in 2019. Warehousing, transportation and construction also represented the industries with the most at-work fatalities in the Keystone State in 2022, with 54 victims in transportation/warehousing and 28 victims in construction. Of the 54 transportation workers, 41 were employed in truck transportation and four worked in transit/ground passenger transportation.

Other industries reporting deadly workplace incidents in 2022 were education/health services (13 deaths), manufacturing (10 deaths), waste management (seven deaths), retail trade (seven deaths) and repair/maintenance (five deaths).

Preventable Hazards Remain

In 2022, Patch reported an employee at a Penn Township food processing plant died after falling into a bean hopper. The same year, a mining scoop operator died after he was struck by an overhanging rock and a construction worker died after falling out of a bucket truck on the Parkway East, according to CBS News.

OSHA officials fined several facilities in Pennsylvania throughout 2022, from a Birdsboro poultry processing facility with multiple safety hazards (including “willful, serious and repeat violations”); a Maryland residential framing contractor cited for fall hazards and a lack of provided eye protection at a Mechanicsburg work site; a hot tub manufacturer that reportedly overexposed workers to dangerous chemicals in Northumberland; and a Strasburg framing contractor cited for fall hazards at a PennDOT salt storage stockpile in Luzerne.

OSHA, which covers most private sector employers and some public sector employers, says hazard violations continue to mount with at least three employers cited in 2023 for similar preventable dangers. The federal agency even partnered with state and academic leaders in late 2022 to reduce exposure to workplace hazards, establishing an alliance with the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute and Pennsylvania OSHA Consultation to protect warehouse and storage workers.

"With the rapid growth of e-commerce, the warehousing industry has expanded significantly, Allentown OSHA Area Director Jean Kulp said at the time. “We look forward to partnering with our alliance members to provide information, resources and training to reduce and prevent the hazardous conditions that warehousing and storage workers continuously face every day.”

Bills seeking to improve workplace safety in the Pennsylvania Legislature widely vary by industry and occupation, though one proposed measure in the Pennsylvania Senate aims to bolster health and safety standards for public employees across the state and establish a Pennsylvania Occupational Safety and Health Review Board that can conduct workplace inspections and impose penalties.

Known as the Jake Schwab Worker Safety Bill (after an Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority mechanic who was fatally injured at work in 2014), the measure would extend OSHA protections to public sector workers in Pennsylvania.

“What if I told you that private sector workers have more workplace protections than our police officers, firemen, corrections officers, road maintenance workers, and other public employees in Pennsylvania? You would probably be shocked to find out that it is the truth,” reads a December 2022 memo attached to the bill from Rep. Patrick J. Harkins.

“All workers deserve the right to work in an environment that is free from unnecessary health and safety hazards, including the public sector workers that have some of the most dangerous jobs in the Commonwealth,” Harkins added. “It is time we honor Jake Schwab’s memory and improve safety in public employee workplaces.”