Washington Needs a Commission on Boys and Men

103 Men, 0 Women — People in Washington Who Died While Working

100% of occupational fatalities in Washington in 2022 were men

The latest numbers published by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries show that 2022 was the deadliest year in recent history for working men, with 103 occupational fatalities recorded. 2022 was tied for the least deadly year ever for working women, with 0 fatalities recorded. 2023 numbers have not yet been published.

The state government’s labor statistics webpage contains occupational injury and fatality numbers for the years 2013 through 2022. During that period, the annual number of male workplace fatalities ranged from a low of 51 to a high of 103. The annual number of female workplace fatalities ranged from 4 to 12 between 2013 and 2021, and then it dropped to 0 in 2022.

Twenty-four construction workers died in 2022 (source). In July 2022, for example, two construction workers — David Ameh and Demetrius Sellers — died when a trench collapsed at a home in Shoreline.

Washington Initiative for Boys and Men expresses our gratitude to every person who works a dangerous job that society relies on. And we express our grief for every life lost. The men who die while earning money to provide for themselves and their families are someone’s brother, someone’s husband, someone’s dad, someone’s son, someone’s friend. They are infinitely valuable human beings with hopes and aspirations, and often it’s a sudden, shocking accident that cuts their lives short.

2022 was the deadliest year for Washington’s working men in recent history with 103 occupational fatalities recorded.

When it comes to occupational injuries, Department of Labor and Industries records show over 120,000 injured men and over 77,000 injured women between 2018 and 2022.

Last year we published an article in which we profiled five Washington men whose occupations expose them to unusually high risk of injury: “Appreciating Washington’s Men Who Work Dangerous Jobs.” One of the men whose testimony we published is Michael Allan, the City of Kirkland firefighter pictured below with his wife.

Firefighter Michael Allan and wife Jillian

The most dangerous occupations

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ten most dangerous occupations measured by the fatal injury rate are:

  1. Logging (the most dangerous)
  2. Fishing and hunting
  3. Roofing
  4. Aircraft pilot
  5. Iron and steel work
  6. Truck driving
  7. Refuse and recycling collecting
  8. Mining
  9. Construction
  10. Electrical power line work

In the U.S. workforce, over 90% of participants in each of those occupations are men, with the exception being refuse and recycling collectors, 88% of whom are male.

We see these men for the valuable people they are. We appreciate them.

Blair Daly of WIBM visited the Loggers Memorial in Forks, Washington, which honors those who’ve perished in the timber industry.