Overview of Workplace Accident Statistics in Mission, Texas  

Mission, a growing city in the Rio Grande Valley and part of the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metropolitan area, is an economic hub for South Texas, with key industries including retail trade, healthcare, education, agriculture, manufacturing, and logistics/transportation. These industries support local jobs while posing occupational risks, such as falls and slips in retail, ergonomic strains and patient handling in healthcare, manufacturing machinery risks, heat-related illnesses, and equipment failures in agriculture, as well as vehicle mishaps. Data are sourced primarily from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), and regional reports. As of October 6, 2025, the 2024 data are preliminary due to reporting lags, and the 2025 figures are not yet complete. We will review mission-specific issues, including those for Hidalgo County and the Valley, from 2022 to 2024.

Key Takeaways from Recent Workplace Accident Data (2022–2024)

• Worker Fatalities: Texas continues to top the nation in occupational deaths, with 826 preliminary reports in 2024, down from 928 in 2023. Mission/Hidalgo County estimates 4–6 fatalities yearly, primarily in construction and transportation; construction contributed 140 statewide deaths in 2022.
• Severe Injuries: Statewide, severe injuries in high-risk sectors, such as construction, increased by 13% in 2024. In Mission, healthcare and manufacturing see elevated rates, with upper extremity injuries (e.g., strains) in over 40% of cases.
• Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses: Texas reported 2.6 million nonfatal cases in 2023, a 8.4% decrease from 2022, with an incidence rate of 2.4 nonfatal injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers. Mission's rate is approximately 2.3 per 100 full-time workers (compared to the overall rate in Texas). It is primarily due to slips and falls in retail and overexertion in healthcare.
• Top Contributing Factors: Slips and falls accounted for 25% of nonfatal injuries and illnesses. The following leading factors were overexertion (20%), contact with objects/equipment (18%), and transportation incidents (15%), which were the leading causes of fatalities. Exposure to heat in agriculture and retail/retail and high shift lengths in agriculture and retail are exposure factors that concur with Mission's subtropical climate exposures.
• Regional Impact: Hidalgo County (which includes Mission) reported over 1,500 nonfatal injuries in 2023, representing approximately 1% of all nonfatal injuries reported in the state of Texas. The retail and healthcare sectors employ approximately 25% of workers, which is expected also to increase general illness rates.

Worker Fatalities in Mission Workplaces

The majority of fatalities in Mission involve construction, transportation, and manufacturing, with falls and roadway deaths being the most common. Texas was the leading state for 2024 (preliminary) with a total of 826 fatalities. There were a projected five fatalities in 2024 in Mission/Hidalgo County, which has a sizable population of wage workers in all three industries: two from falls in construction and two from accidents involving transportation. In 2024, Texas saw 58 heat-related fatalities, which added to the state's total number of fatalities. In 2023, the fatality totals for Mission/Hidalgo were four deaths, with a slight decline (from 2022) of 1 death in manufacturing and two deaths in agriculture, compared to Texas’s total of fatalities at 928. In 2022, the estimated deaths were around 6, with the leading cause being construction, with three deaths. Statewide, Texas fatalities by construction workers accounted for 140 deaths, while transportation contributed to 23% of Texas fatalities. From 2019 to 2021, the total fatalities in the Rio Grande Valley on average were around 15 fatalities, with the Texas construction death in 2019 alone at a rate of 123 deaths, with 32 from vehicle-related deaths and 91 from other deaths. The majority of the fatalities related to the Mission involve seasonal agricultural workers or workers who cross borders for logistical reasons. In a nationwide summary, there were 5,283 fatal injuries in 2023, which is a decline of 3.7% from 2022 rates, with Texas representing about 15% of the nationwide total.

Severe Injuries in Mission Workplaces

OSHA tracks severe injuries (fractures, amputations, hospitalizations) in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors because these two categories represent the highest risk of injury. Since the expansion of Mission’s logistics, there has been a 12% increase in severe injuries in Hidalgo County since 2022. The estimated number of serious injuries in the Mission / Hidalgo County area was 115, which was an increase of about 12% over 2023, when there were 103 injuries. Types of injuries included employee machine crush injuries in manufacturing and employee overexertion injuries in healthcare. Collectively, these accounted for approximately 1% of the serious injuries reported for Texas in 2024. The types of severe injuries reported in 2023 further included falls, which were common in retail and construction, with symptoms and injuries that impacted the upper extremities for 42% of injuries reported. For 2022, the estimated number of severe injuries for Mission/Hidalgo County was 95, with healthcare overexertion being the leading cause of injury. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rate for other sectors was 1.5/100 full-time workers. From 2015 to 2022, Texas reported around 11,500 severe injuries in non-oil sectors like Mission’s, with the U.S. oil/gas sector (contextual) logging 2,101 severe injuries, of which Texas led with 1,134. According to BLS 2023 statistics, there are 1.5 injuries for every 100 full-time extraction workers (broader reference), and Mission's nonfatal rate is comparable to Texas's general rate of 2.4.

Nonfatal Injuries and Illnesses in Mission Workplaces

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that in 2023, there were 2,400 non-fatal events, or 2.4 occurrences per 100 employees, in the private sector of Texas. This suggests that, considering Mission's focus on retail and healthcare workers, high injury rates in the service sector are to be anticipated. The state of Texas reported approximately 2.6 million nonfatal cases in 2023, a 8.4% decrease from 2022; approximately 1,200 of these injuries were reported in Mission/Hidalgo County. Nonfatal injury case rates remained consistent at 2.4 million statewide as illness cases fell 56.6% to 200,100, mostly from falling respiratory and heat-related complaints. The incidence rate for workers in service sectors in Mission is approximately 2.3 per 100 workers, but healthcare centers statewide exceed 3.0. Slips and falls are the primary complaint for retail workers in Mission, while days away from work are moderate in manufacturing, which has recently seen a low of 20% in construction claims statewide. On the other hand, cases are fluctuating in the health care sector, mostly tied to workforce shortages. Agriculture jobs still report undercounts, and involvement in border trade appears to increase logistics-related injury cases, although not as significantly as in oil resource-rich areas in Texas.

Vehicle and Transportation Accidents in Mission Workplaces

Transportation events are the second-highest cause of Mission fatalities, representing 15% of the overall fatalities. However, with border trucking on US 281 and I-2, TxDOT stated that 2023 volumes had increased. There were an estimated 1,100 truck-related accidents that occurred on US 281 to Mission in 2023. US 281 experienced over nine worker deaths that were reported from 2019 through 2023, which also coincided with Texas recording 32 construction vehicle fatalities in 2019. I-2 (Expressway 83) accounted for 50% of the more than 450 fatal wrecks in the Valley between 2018 and 2023, with over 2,500 total area accidents, specifically mentioning about 18% linked to workplace activity (mostly logistics-related). Since 2022, TxDOT has worked to reduce fatalities on local FM highways, which were previously exacerbated by agricultural hauls, by 15%. The risk is significantly increased by intercontinental freight and driver exhaustion, as demonstrated by the 41% rise in Texas transportation fatalities in 2022.

Notable Workplace Incidents in the Mission Area

OSHA is starting investigations into several of these occurrences, and recent press reports have highlighted the dangers presented by manufacturing and construction operations. In July 2024, a fall from an unsecured ladder without a harness was reported from one Mission construction site. A significant injury and an OSHA violation, resulting in a $12,000 fine, were caused by the fall. In April 2024, a forklift crash happened at a Hidalgo County industrial site when the view was blocked, causing an injury that necessitated hospitalization. By the end of 2024, 103 serious incidents had been reported to OSHA, including this one. In a field in Mission, agricultural workers reported a case of an exhaust-related injury that occurred while harvesting in November among laborers during the 2023 harvest, serving as a reminder of the hazards. In September 2022, a retail warehouse in Mission submitted a report regarding a slip on spilled produce, which involved two workers and strains that are common in the industry. OSHA reported approximately 45 Valley citations in 2024 and subsequently received $450,000 for the law violations. The violations represented a variety of non-oil hazards, with the agricultural industry tracked through reports sent to TDI on injured claims.

Broader Context and Trends

• Production vs. Safety: Texas’s 1.92 billion barrels of oil production in 2023 is unrelated to Mission, but the $9 billion+ in border trade stresses logistics, with fatalities rising amid economic growth.
• Regulatory Notes: OSHA’s 2024 heat rule proposal targets Valley vulnerabilities; Texas ranks #1 in deaths but saw a 13% decline in severe injuries in 2024. Underreporting in small businesses is a noted concern.
• Limitations: BLS data omits self-employed workers and focuses on the private sector. Raw data can be accessed via BLS IIF, OSHA Fatality Inspection, and TDI reports.

A2X Law: Your Advocate for Workplace Safety and Justice

The hazardous conditions in Mission's various sectors highlight the importance of maintaining ongoing safety procedures and providing workers and their families with legal support. A2X Law is committed to advocating for victims of workplace accidents and assisting with navigating the process surrounding workers’ compensation, personal injury, and wrongful death claims. We understand the specific circumstances present in the Rio Grande Valley and fight for reasonable compensation and hold responsible parties accountable, which allows injured workers and the families of workers who were killed to obtain justice. If you or a family member has been affected by a workplace accident, please get in touch with A2X Law to explore your options and receive the assistance you need. 

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