Fatal Work Injuries in Alaska — 2024

Fatal work injuries totaled 24 in 2024 for Alaska, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that the number of work-related fatalities in Alaska was down 17.2 percent from 29 in 2023. (See chart 1.) The fatal work injury rate was 7.1 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2024, a decrease from a rate of 7.4 in 2023. Nationwide, a total of 5,070 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2024, a 4.0-percent decrease from 5,283 in 2023. These data are from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI).

Fatal event or exposure

• Transportation incidents (15) were the most frequent type of fatal event in Alaska, accounting for 63 percent of all fatal work injuries in the state. Nationally the share was 38 percent. Worker deaths from transportation incidents were down from 18 over the year. (See chart 2 and table 1.)

• Contact incidents (5) accounted for 21 percent of Alaska worker fatalities; nationally the share was 15 percent.

  Chart 2. Percent distribution of total fatal occupational injuries by event, United States and Alaska, 2023

  Event	United States	Alaska
  Transportation incidents	37	62
  Violent acts	14	14
  Contact incidents	15	10
  All other	34	14
  Note: Percents may not add to total due to rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Private industry

• The agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector had the highest number of fatalities with 10, up from 3 the previous year. (See table 2.)

• Transportation incidents resulted in 8 of the 10 fatalities in this sector.

• The fishing industry group accounted for all 10 of the sector's fatal workplace injuries.

Occupation

• Transportation and material moving workers experienced 7 fatal work injuries in 2024, compared to 10 the previous year. Commercial pilots accounted for 5 of the 7 fatalities. (See table 3.)

• The farming, fishing, and forestry occupational group had the highest number of fatal workplace injuries with 10. Fishing and hunting workers accounted for all 10 of the major group's fatal workplace injuries.

Worker characteristics

• Males accounted for 92 percent of the work-related fatalities in both Alaska and nationally. (See table 4.)

• Fatal workplace injuries among male workers decreased from 26 to 22, with transportation incidents accounting for 59 percent of fatal events in 2024.

• White non-Hispanics accounted for 79 percent of those who died from a workplace injury. Nationwide, this group accounted for 56 percent of work-related deaths.

• Workers aged 55 years and older accounted for 29 percent of the state's work-related fatalities in 2024, compared to 37 percent of on-the-job fatalities nationally.

Technical Note

Background of the program. The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), part of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSHS) program, is a count of all fatalities resulting from workplace injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. For technical information and definitions for the CFOI, see the national CFOI release Technical notes, the BLS Handbook of Methods, and the CFOI definitions.

Acknowledgments. BLS thanks the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development for their efforts in collecting accurate, comprehensive, and useful data on fatal work injuries. BLS also appreciates the efforts of all federal, state, local, and private sector entities that provided source documents used to identify fatal work injuries nationally. See the national CFOI release Technical Notes for details on cooperating entities.

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Table 1. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure, Alaska, 2023-24

Event or Exposure (1)	2023	2024
	Number	Number	Percent (%)
All events and exposures	29	24	100
Transportation incidents	18	15	63
Water vehicle incidents	--	8	33
Capsized or sinking water vehicle (non collision)	--	5	21
Incidents onboard water vehicle in normal operation	--	3	13
Fall, jump from water vehicle	--	3	13
Contact incidents	3	5	21
Footnotes: (1) Based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) version 3 implemented for 2023 data forward.
Note: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 2. Fatal occupational injuries by industry, Alaska, 2023-24

Industry	2023	2024
	Number	Number	Percent (%)
Total	29	24	100
Private industry (1)	20	21	88
Natural resources and mining	6	--	--
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	3	10	42
Fishing, hunting and trapping	3	10	42
Fishing	3	10	42
Fishing	3	10	42
Construction	--	--	--
Manufacturing	--	--	--
Trade, transportation, and utilities	7	--	--
Wholesale trade	--	2	8
Transportation and warehousing	6	3	13
Information	--	--	--
Financial activities	1	--	--
Professional and business services	--	--	--
Educational and health services	--	1	4
Educational services	--	1	4
Educational services	--	1	4
Technical and trade schools	--	1	4
Technical and trade schools	--	1	4
Flight training	--	1	4
Leisure and hospitality	--	--	--
Other services (except public administration)	--	--	--
Government (2)	9	3	12
Federal government	6	2	8
State government	3	--	--
Local government	--	1	4
Footnotes: (1) CFOI has used several versions of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) since 2003 to define industry. For complete information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our concepts page at https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cfoi/concepts.htm#industry. (2) Includes fatal injuries to workers employed by governmental organizations regardless of industry. Cases classified as foreign government and other government are included in all government counts, but not displayed separately.
Note: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 3. Fatal occupational injuries by occupation, Alaska, 2023-24

Occupation (1)	2023	2024
	Number	Number	Percent (%)
All occupations	29	24	100
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	--	10	42
Fishing and hunting workers	--	10	42
Fishing and hunting workers	--	10	42
Fishing and hunting workers	--	10	42
Transportation and material moving occupations	10	7	29
Air transportation workers	4	5	21
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers	4	5	21
Commercial pilots	4	5	21
Footnotes: (1) CFOI has used several versions of the Standard Occupation Classification (SOC) system since 2003 to define occupation. For complete information on the version of SOC used in these years, see the CFOI definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm). Cases where occupation is unknown are included in the total.
Note: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.

Table 4. Fatal occupational injuries by selected demographic characteristics, Alaska, 2023-24

Demographic	2023	2024
	Number	Number	Percent (%)
Total	29	24	100
Employee status
Wage and salary workers (1)	23	--	--
Self-employed (2)	6	--	--
Sex
Male	26	22	92
Female	--	--	--
Age (3)
Under 16 years	--	--	--
16 to 17 years	--	--	--
18 to 19 years	--	--	--
20 to 24 years	--	5	21
25 to 34 years	11	5	21
35 to 44 years	4	6	25
45 to 54 years	5	--	--
55 to 64 years	--	3	13
65 years and over	3	4	17
Race or ethnic origin (4)
White, non-Hispanic	22	19	79
Black or African-American, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Hispanic or Latino	--	--	--
American Indian or Alaska Native, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Asian, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Person of multiple races, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Other or not reported, non-Hispanic	--	--	--
Footnotes: (1) May include volunteers and workers receiving other types of compensation. Cases where employment status is unknown are included in the counts of wage and salary workers. (2) Includes self-employed workers, owners of unincorporated businesses and farms, paid and unpaid family workers, and may include some owners of incorporated businesses or members of partnerships. (3) Information may not be available for all age groups. (4) Persons identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. The race categories shown exclude data for Hispanics and Latinos. Cases where ethnicity is unknown are included in counts of non-Hispanic workers.
Note: The Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) has published data on fatal occupational injuries for the United States since 1992. During this time, the classification systems and definitions of many data elements have changed. See the CFOI Definitions page (www.bls.gov/iif/definitions/census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-definitions.htm) for a more detailed description of each data element. Data for all years are revised and final. Totals for major categories may include subcategories not shown separately. Dashes indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless precipitated by an injury event.