Introduction Death at work remains a frequent pressing public health issue despite undeniable progress in occupational health and safety. This study aims to assess cases of deaths at the workplace reported in the Forensic Medicine Department of a public hospital in the central region of Tunisia.

Patient and Methods A prospective exhaustive study was conducted in the Forensic Medicine Department of a public hospital located in the central region of Tunisia (Mahdia). This study concerned death occurring in the workplace for which a forensic investigation was carried out during a period of four years from January 2016 to December 2019.

Results Of the 728 deaths reported to the Forensic Medicine Department during the study period, only thirty-five deaths occurred in the workplace with an incidence of 4.8%. The deceased were mostly men (sex ratio = 4) and mean aged 48 years. Victims were blue-collar workers in 97% of cases, fishermen in 34% of cases, security guards in 14% of cases, construction workers in 12% and finally agricultural labourers in 2% of cases. The mechanism of death mostly reported was drowning (34%) followed by cardiac accidents (23%) and trauma (16%). This study revealed a case of suicide in the workplace and two cases of white autopsy.

Conclusion Deaths in the workplace fall into two broad categories: deaths due to workplace injuries or fatal work- related accidents including motor vehicle accidents, machinery-related events, homicides, falls, and electrocution, and deaths due to chronic diseases such as ischemic accidents, aortic dissection. This study has highlighted the contribution of early autopsy in revealing the cause of deaths occurring in the workplace and the need to implement preventive measures to minimize workplace-related preventable deaths.