The latest national Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), shows that in 2020 – the most recent year reported and the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic – the number of homicides occurring in U.S. workplaces decreased to 392, down from 454 in 2019. This is the lowest number of workplace homicides recorded in the past twenty years. In addition, the CFOI shows that workplace suicides declined to 259 from 2019’s record total of 307 and was the lowest total since 2015. BLS does not offer any explanation as to the numbers it reports.
Overall, workplace homicides and suicides composed 13.7% of fatal occupational injuries occurring in 2020, down slightly from 14.3% in 2019.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.