Field1st releases “The State of Field Safety 2026” report

AI-native, voice-first safety operations platform Field1st announced the release of “The State of Field Safety 2026,” an annual quantitative benchmark of high-hazard U.S. field work.

The company said that the report brings together the latest available data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OSHA, MSHA, NIOSH and the National Safety Council to examine where safety outcomes are improving - and where catastrophic risk remains persistent.

Fatal work injuries fall 4%

Field1st’s report found that the U.S. recorded 5,070 fatal work injuries in 2024, down 4.0% from 5,283 in 2023, according to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. The fatal-injury rate fell from 3.5 to 3.3 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers over the same period. The report found that private employers also reported a record-low injury and illness rate of 2.3 cases per 100 full-time workers.

However, Field1st’s report finds that these improvements do not tell the full story. The national fatal-injury rate was 3.4 in 2015 and 3.3 in 2024 - a change of only one tenth of a point in a decade. Construction recorded 1,034 deaths in 2024 and a fatality rate of 9.2 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers, approximately 2.8 times the national rate.

The report found that three event types accounted for nearly seven in ten occupational deaths in 2024:

• Transportation incidents, with 1,937 deaths
• Falls, slips and trips, with 844 deaths
• Contact incidents, with 756 deaths

Pedestrian-worker incidents involving motorized vehicles increased 19%, from 310 deaths in 2023 to 369 in 2024, even as roadway deaths declined.

Rather than reducing the data to a subjective composite score, Field1st said that the report presents a transparent Field Safety Index dashboard. The company said that it also identifies gaps in public reporting, including the absence of standardized national measures for near misses, serious-injury-and-fatality precursors, critical-control performance, subcontractor-tier outcomes and contractor fatality rates.

Field1st said that its report argues that the next phase of safety technology should help organizations recognize weak signals before catastrophic events occur, such as:

• Uncontrolled high-energy exposure
• Bypassed critical controls
• Incomplete job briefings
• Repeated corrective actions
• Contractors working outside expected conditions