Urban violence is the biggest cause of fatal work-related accidents in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the occurrence of deaths directly associated with urban violence among fatal work-related accidents.

METHODS: Verbal autopsies were performed with the relatives and coworkers of residents of Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil, who died from external causes in 2015. We have also analyzed police reports and reports of the Legal Medical Institute related to these deaths.

RESULTS: We have identified 82 fatal work-related accidents in Campinas in 2015, of which 25 were murders, 35 were traffic accidents not directly related to work activities, and three were suicides at work. The proportional mortality rate for homicides, traffic accidents, and suicides among fatal work-related accidents was estimated at 30.5%, 42.7%, and 3.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Urban violence accounted for three-fourths of the fatal work-related accidents recorded in the period studied.