Occupational injuries are one of the leading causes of death or disability in occupational populations. According to the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, occupational injuries were the occupational contributor responsible for the largest loss of disability-adjusted life years (DALY) globally in 2016.

To analyze the burden of deaths attributed to occupational injuries in Chinese population from 1990 to 2019, and provide a reference for further construction of occupational injury surveillance system.

Using the results and data of the Global Burden of Disease 2019 (GBD 2019), this study estimated the burden of deaths attributable to occupational injuries by year, sex, and age groups, and the indicators included deaths, years of life lost (YLL), mortality, and YLL rates. Age-standardized rates of deaths and YLL rates were calculated using a world standard population presented by GBD 2019. Annualized rate of change (ARC) was use to evaluate changes in the indicators over time. All results were presented as point estimates with 95% uncertainty intervals (95%UI).

In 2019, the deaths attributable to occupational injuries among women in China accounted for 33.16% of that among world's women, their YLL accounted for 31.88%, and the two indicators among Chinese men accounted for 17.98% and 17.09%, respectively. Compared with 1990, the standardized mortality rate and the standardized YLL rate attributable to occupational injuries in China in 2019 decreased, among which the ARCs of the standardized mortality rate in the whole population, men, and women were −0.68 (95%UI: −0.78, −0.51), −0.68 (95%UI: −0.80, −0.47), and −0.68 (95%UI: −0.82, −0.46), respectively. The ARCs of the standardized YLL rate in the whole population, men, and women were −0.68 (95%UI: −0.78, −0.51), −0.67 (95%UI: −0.80, −0.48), and −0.68 (95%UI: −0.81, −0.44), respectively. Absolute values of the ARCs of the standardized mortality rate and the standardized YLL rate attributable to occupational injuries from 1990 to 2010 were higher than those from 2010 to 2019. The ARCs of the standardized YLL rate for road injuries, falls, and drowning from 1990 to 2010 were −0.55 (95%UI: −0.67, −0.36), −0.57 (95%UI: −0.73, −0.38), −0.77 (95%UI: −0.84, −0.63), and the ARCs from 2010 to 2019 were −0.27 (95%UI: −0.46, −0.02), −0.07 (95%UI: −0.34, −0.26), −0.06 (95%UI: −0.32, −0.29), respectively. In 2019, the standardized mortality rate attributable to occupational injuries among Chinese men was 5.68/100000 (95%UI: 3.89/100000, 8.23/100000), and the standardized YLL rate was 286.27/100000 (95%UI: 197.58/100000, 411.38/100000); the standardized mortality rate attributable to occupational injuries among Chinese women was 1.55/100000 (95%UI: 0.99/100000, 2.36/100000), and the standardized YLL rate was 80.85/100000 (95%UI: 51.61/100000, 122.07/100000).

From 1990 to 2019, the burden of deaths attributable to occupational injuries in China is declined, but the rate of decline is slowed down in the last decade. The burden of deaths attributable to occupational injuries among women in China still accounts for a high proportion of the global burden among women. The burden of deaths attributable to occupational injuries among Chinese men is higher than that among Chinese women.