Fatal occupational injuries decreased in 2020

The number of workplace deaths in Montana decreased in 2020, according to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry.

Montana experienced 29 fatal work-related injuries in 2020, according to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries released this week by Montana Department of Labor & Industry’s Employment Relations Division. There were 38 workplace fatalities in Montana in 2019.

The fatality census, conducted throughout the nation, is part of a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics safety and health statistics program that provides a complete count of fatal work injuries in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These fatality statistics are used to fulfill a commitment to increasing safety in the workplace.

All 29 of Montana’s fatalities were private-sector workers.

Transportation incidents were the leading cause of fatal occupational injuries to Montana workers during 2020, accounting for 18, more than half of the fatalities.

Aircraft and train incidents, vehicle incidents, pedestrian versus vehicle, collisions between vehicles, and non-collision incidents such as jack-knife or overturn of vehicles could be considered a transportation event. Vehicles could include a fire truck or a semi-truck, automobiles, passenger vehicles, animal powered vehicles, on road or off-road terrain vehicles, farm tractor or an industrial tractor.

The study includes data for all fatal work injuries, whether they are covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act or other federal or state agency regulations or are outside the scope of regulatory coverage. Information on work-related illnesses are excluded from this census because of the latency period of many occupational illnesses and the resulting difficulties associated with linking illnesses to work.

Fatal occupational illnesses including Covid-19 are out of scope for CFOI unless precipitated by an acute injury. It is possible that a Covid-19 related fatality resulting from an acute injury may be in scope and appear on the CFOI file. However, information on Covid-related fatalities in source data is inconsistent and often unavailable, so the study will not publish specific Covid-19 data.