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Occupation Specific Fatality Rate:

Construction is often discussed as though every worker faces roughly the same level of risk. The federal numbers tell a more complicated story.

A pipefitter working at grade, a roofer working at elevation, an equipment operator moving material and an ironworker connecting structural steel can all be classified within the broad construction workforce, yet their exposures can be dramatically different.

The latest complete federal data provides a way to measure those differences.

In 2024, construction and extraction occupations recorded 1,032 fatal work injuries, with a fatal injury rate of 12.6 deaths per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers. Across all U.S. workers, the rate was only 3.3 per 100,000.

But even that construction-wide number hides some enormous differences between individual occupations.

Construction Risk by the Numbers

Among selected construction occupations tracked in federal fatality statistics, the 2024 fatal injury rates per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers included:

• Roofers — 48.7
• Structural iron and steel workers — 37.8
• Construction trade helpers — 35.8
• Construction laborers — 15.8
• First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers — 12.8
• Construction equipment operators — 11.7
• Carpenters — 7.5
• Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters — 6.9
• Electricians — 5.3

For comparison, the rate for all U.S. workers was 3.3.

These rates matter because simply counting fatalities can create a distorted picture. A trade employing a very large workforce can record more deaths than a smaller occupation even when an individual worker’s statistical risk is lower. Fatal injury rates adjust for workforce exposure and make comparisons more meaningful.

Roofers: 48.7 Fatalities per 100,000 Workers

Roofers stand out immediately.

Their 2024 fatal injury rate was 48.7 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers, with 104 fatal work injuries recorded during the year.

That rate was nearly 15 times the rate for all U.S. workers.

The reason the number deserves attention becomes clearer when the work itself is considered. Roofing routinely combines elevation, edges, ladders, changing surfaces, weather conditions, material handling and movement around areas where a single loss of footing can have catastrophic consequences.

Federal industry data reinforces that exposure. Roofing contractors recorded 120 fatalities in 2024, and 96 were associated with falls, slips and trips.

In other words, the danger is not hidden.

It is heavily concentrated around one of construction’s most recognizable hazards: gravity.

Structural Iron and Steel Workers: 37.8

Structural iron and steel workers recorded a fatal injury rate of 37.8 per 100,000 workers in 2024.

The occupation recorded 14 fatal work injuries.

The total number is much smaller than the number for construction laborers, but the fatality rate tells the more important statistical story. Ironworkers represent a smaller workforce, so the rate of fatal injury relative to the number of workers is extremely high.

The work can combine elevation, structural members, cranes, rigging, suspended loads, steel erection, temporary connections and constantly changing access conditions.

For an industrial worker, that environment is familiar. Refinery expansions, power plants, data centers and other large projects frequently require structural steel before mechanical systems can be installed.

The steel going into the air eventually becomes somebody else’s workplace.

For the ironworker erecting it, however, the structure itself may still be the work platform.

Construction Trade Helpers: 35.8

One of the less obvious numbers belongs to construction trade helpers.

Their fatal injury rate reached 35.8 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers, with 18 fatalities recorded in 2024.

This is important because the most inexperienced person on a crew may also be the person least familiar with the hazards developing around them.

Experienced journeymen learn to recognize suspended loads, pinch points, unstable material, energized systems, equipment swing radiuses, incomplete access and changes in jobsite conditions almost automatically.

A newer worker may not.

That makes communication part of hazard control.

A crew cannot assume everyone sees what the most experienced worker sees.

Construction Laborers: 334 Fatalities

Construction laborers present a different statistical picture.

Their fatal injury rate was 15.8 per 100,000 workers, substantially below the rates for roofers and ironworkers but still far above the 3.3 rate for all U.S. workers.

More striking is the total number.

334 construction laborers suffered fatal work injuries in 2024.

That was more than three times the number recorded among roofers.

This demonstrates why both fatality counts and fatality rates matter.

Rates help identify the relative risk experienced by workers within an occupation. Counts reveal the total human impact across a large workforce.

Construction laborers may encounter vehicles, excavation, material handling, demolition, heights, equipment, traffic, tools and numerous other exposures as projects change.

Their work can put them almost everywhere on a construction site.

Construction Supervisors: 12.8

First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers recorded 105 fatalities and a fatal injury rate of 12.8 per 100,000 workers.

This statistic challenges the idea that moving into supervision automatically removes someone from physical jobsite exposure.

Foremen and supervisors frequently walk work areas, inspect progress, coordinate lifts, troubleshoot problems, interact with equipment and enter active construction zones throughout the day.

Their responsibilities may change.

The hazards around them do not disappear.

Construction Equipment Operators: 11.7

Construction equipment operators recorded 49 fatal work injuries, producing a rate of 11.7 per 100,000 workers.

Heavy equipment introduces an enormous amount of energy into a jobsite. Excavators, loaders, dozers, cranes and other machines can move thousands of pounds while operating around workers, structures, excavations and other equipment.

Visibility can be limited. Ground conditions change. Workers can enter blind spots. Equipment can overturn or make contact with surrounding hazards.

The machine may provide physical protection to its operator, but it also creates exposures that do not exist in many other occupations.

Pipefitters, Plumbers, Pipelayers and Steamfitters: 6.9

The federal occupational category combining pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters recorded 47 fatal work injuries in 2024.

The fatal injury rate was 6.9 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers.

That is more than twice the rate for all U.S. workers.

For industrial pipefitters, the hazards can include rigging, suspended pipe, elevated work, confined spaces, operating facilities, pressure systems, hot work, heavy components and interaction with cranes and other equipment.

One important limitation should be understood: the federal category combines several related pipe occupations. It therefore should not be interpreted as a pipefitter-only fatality rate.

Even so, it provides useful context for the broader pipe trades.

Electricians: 5.3

Electricians recorded 53 fatal work injuries and a rate of 5.3 per 100,000 workers.

That is lower than several other construction occupations but remains above the national worker rate.

Electrical work presents a hazard that can be particularly unforgiving because the energy may be invisible.

Industrial electricians may also work around temporary power, energized equipment, switchgear, elevated cable installations and complex systems where proper isolation and verification become critical.

A lower rate relative to roofing or structural steel should never be interpreted as low consequence.

Electricity does not provide much room for error.

The Difference Between “Most Deaths” and “Highest Risk”

This is one of the most important lessons in interpreting construction statistics.

Construction laborers recorded 334 deaths, while roofers recorded 104.

If we looked only at the number of fatalities, we might conclude that construction laborers faced the greater risk.

But the fatality rates tell another story.

Construction laborers: 15.8 per 100,000.

Roofers: 48.7 per 100,000.

The roofer fatality rate was more than three times the laborer rate.

Neither statistic makes one death more significant than another. They simply answer different questions.

Fatality count asks: How many workers died?

Fatality rate asks: How frequently did fatal injuries occur relative to the workforce?

Good statistical analysis requires looking at both.

Construction as a Whole Remains an Outlier

The private construction industry recorded 1,034 fatal occupational injuries in 2024, with a rate of 9.2 deaths per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers.

The occupational classification tells a similar story from another angle: construction and extraction occupations recorded 1,032 fatalities and a rate of 12.6.

Those figures are not interchangeable. One classifies workers according to the industry employing them; the other classifies them according to the work they perform.

Together, however, they show the same broad reality.

Construction remains a workplace where fatal hazards occur at rates substantially above the national workforce average.

What These Numbers Should Change in the Field

Statistics have little value if they remain numbers on a page.

The useful question is what they tell a worker before the next shift.

For roofers and ironworkers, the extraordinary rates reinforce the importance of fall protection and controlled elevated work.

For laborers, constantly changing exposures require awareness of the entire work environment rather than just the immediate task.

For equipment operators, separation between people and machinery matters.

For pipefitters and other mechanical trades, line-of-fire hazards, rigging, stored energy, elevated work and process conditions deserve constant attention.

For electricians, verification, isolation and respect for energized systems remain fundamental.

And for supervisors, safety cannot simply be something assigned to the crew.

They are part of the exposure too.

Experience Should Change How You See Risk

A veteran worker and an apprentice can stand in exactly the same location and see two completely different jobsites.

The apprentice may see a crane.

The journeyman sees the load, boom position, rigging configuration, swing radius and escape route.

The apprentice sees a scaffold.

The journeyman notices the access, decking, tie-off points and incomplete sections.

The apprentice sees a piece of pipe.

The journeyman sees weight, center of gravity, stored energy and potential pinch points.

That ability to recognize what can happen next is one of the most valuable things experience provides.

Passing that knowledge down may be just as important as teaching someone how to perform the trade itself.

The NÆXON Field Takeaway

Federal statistics cannot tell us exactly what will happen on tomorrow’s jobsite.

They can tell us where workers have been dying.

In 2024, the fatal injury rate for all U.S. workers was 3.3 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers. For roofers it was 48.7. For structural iron and steel workers it was 37.8. For construction laborers it was 15.8. For construction supervisors it was 12.8. For equipment operators it was 11.7. For the combined pipe-trades category it was 6.9.

Those differences are enormous.

But every one of those numbers represents the same basic reality: construction places people around gravity, energy, equipment, vehicles, material and changing conditions every day.

The goal is not to make workers afraid of those hazards.

The goal is to make them difficult to ignore.

Because the strongest tradesman on a project is not the one who believes nothing will happen to him.

It is the one who understands exactly what can happen — and works accordingly.

Data basis: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 2024.

For the graphic that goes with Stats #5, the strongest visualization will be a NÆXON-blue horizontal comparison showing 48.7 Roofers → 37.8 Ironworkers → 35.8 Helpers → 15.8 Laborers → 12.8 Supervisors → 11.7 Equipment Operators → 7.5 Carpenters → 6.9 Pipe Trades → 5.3 Electricians → 3.3 All Workers. That would make the scale of the differences immediately visible.