Animal-Ag Fatalities as Tracked by BLS and OSHA, 2011–2020
Both BLS and OSHA track fatalities related to animal agriculture, but BLS defines both "worker" and "work-related incidents" more broadly. BLS includes the deaths of farmer family members, contract workers, volunteers, and incidents related to farm work that occur off farm property in its statistics. BLS is not subject to a small-farm exemption, so counts fatalities on all farms and in all states and territories, not just those overseen by federal OSHA.
Both BLS and OSHA track fatalities related to animal agriculture, but BLS defines both "worker" and "work-related incidents" more broadly. BLS includes the deaths of farmer family members, contract workers, volunteers, and incidents related to farm work that occur off farm property in its statistics. BLS is not subject to a small-farm exemption, so counts fatalities on all farms and in all states and territories, not just those overseen by federal OSHA. The chart shows that BLS records significantly higher numbers of fatalities across all farm types, except for poultry hatcheries.
