All but 12 of last year’s 51 workplace deaths in Massachusetts occurred as a result of traumatic injuries, but a new report found those employers were able to cut their safety-inspection-related fines in half through the appeals process.

The average penalty issued by Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the 23 inspections that followed 39 workplace fatalities was roughly $38,430. Employer appeals brought the average final penalty down 42.9%, to $21,927, states a new report compiled by Massachusetts AFL-CIO and MassCOSH.

Employer appeals brought down final penalties even further when tracking all OSHA inspections that found safety violations, 83.5% of which were “serious, willful or repeat,” the report states. Overall, the average proposed penalty was $9,874, but the appeals process brought final penalties down to $5,020, a 49.2% reduction.

“For many companies, absorbing the costs of allowing dangerous working conditions is just the cost of doing business,” a spokesperson for Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health said in a statement.

OSHA conducted 1,521 inspections in 2022, found 1,621 violations and issued citations of $30,000 or more to 69 companies in Massachusetts. Most of the hazards that led to severe injury or death were easily preventable, the report asserts.

“Thirty-nine workers lost their lives to work-related injuries in Massachusetts in 2022, demonstrating that egregious practices and preventable deaths are still occurring,” the report states. “We must continue to push for adequate safety measures and consequences for employers that don’t comply, so that all workers return home safely to their families.”

A majority, or nine, of these workers were from the construction industry.

Further, the report states that the 12 remaining deaths captured in last year’s data drastically underrepresent how many employees died from occupational illnesses, which “are estimated to kill more than 20 times as many workers who die from workplace-traumatic injuries in the United States every year.”

There is no comprehensive government documentation of this data. The report cites 10 firefighter deaths, from various cancers and cardiac arrest, along with a truck driver and cannabis cultivation employee who died from work-related disease.

Overall, the 51 workplace deaths that occurred last year are lower than the 62 that occurred in 2021. Transportation incidents, which include motor vehicle crashes and workers struck by vehicles or equipment, were the leading cause of death from injuries, accounting for 48% of these fatalities.

Nine workers died from falls, slips and trips; five died from contact with objects or equipment; and another five injury-related deaths resulted from exposure to harmful substances or environments. Three workers died from violence committed by another person and a commercial fire, the report stated.