Occupational health spans fatal disease, workplace injuries, long-term disability, and conditions linked to work organization or exposure. The measures below cover modeled global estimates for 2016, observed U.S. employer and fatal-injury data for 2023–2024, and European Union accident data for 2023.
Key Occupational Health Statistics
The following figures summarize the most broadly useful measures:
- In 2016, 1.9 million people worldwide died from selected occupational risk factors in the WHO/ILO estimate.
- In 2016, 81% of estimated global work-related deaths were attributed to diseases.
- In 2016, occupational risks caused an estimated 90 million DALYs worldwide.
- In 2016, the global work-related death rate was 34.3 per 100,000 working-age people.
- In 2016, exposure to at least 55 working hours per week was linked to 745,000 deaths worldwide.
- In 2016, occupational injuries caused an estimated 363,000 deaths worldwide.
- In 2016, occupational injuries caused 26.4 million DALYs worldwide.
- In 2024, U.S. private-industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses.
- In 2024, the U.S. private-industry total recordable case rate was 2.3 per 100 full-time-equivalent workers.
- In 2024, private-industry illness cases fell to 148,000 in the United States.
- In 2023–2024, private-industry DAFW cases totaled 1.8 million in the United States.
- In 2023–2024, the median time away from work for U.S. private-industry DAFW cases was 8 days.
- In 2024, the United States recorded 5,070 fatal work injuries.
- In 2024, the U.S. fatal work-injury rate was 3.3 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers.
- In 2024, transportation and material-moving occupations recorded 1,391 U.S. fatal work injuries.
- In 2023, the European Union recorded 2.83 million nonfatal accidents at work.
- In 2023, the EU fatal accident incidence rate was 1.63 per 100,000 employed people.
Contents
- Global occupational health burden
- Global causes, outcomes and demographic patterns
- U.S. nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses
- U.S. nonfatal cases, absence and exposure patterns
- U.S. fatal occupational injuries and worker groups
- European occupational accident statistics and definitions
Global Occupational Health Statistics: Scale of the Burden
The WHO/ILO joint estimates describe selected occupational risk factors and health outcomes, rather than every work-related death or illness. For 2016, they estimated 1.9 million work-related deaths worldwide and 90 million disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs, which combine years lived with disability and years of life lost.
| Global measure | 2016 estimate | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Work-related deaths | 1.9 million | Worldwide; selected risks and outcomes |
| Deaths from disease | 81% | Share of estimated work-related deaths |
| Deaths from injury | 19% | Share of estimated work-related deaths |
| Work-related DALYs | 90 million | Worldwide; selected outcomes |
| Death rate | 34.3 per 100,000 | Working-age people aged 15 and older |
Source: Total WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-related Burden of Disease and Injury, 2000–2016. The percentages are rounded model outputs, and the denominator for the death rate is the working-age population rather than employed workers.
Regional estimates also differed. The WHO South-East Asia Region had 45.0 work-related deaths per 100,000 working-age people in 2016, while the Western Pacific Region had 37.5 per 100,000.
The modeled sex-specific rates were 51.4 deaths per 100,000 working-age people for men and 17.2 for women worldwide in 2016. This is not an exposure-adjusted causal comparison.
Global Occupational Health Causes, Outcomes and Demographic Trends
Disease accounted for most estimated deaths, while injuries represented a large share of the modeled DALY burden. The WHO/ILO output reported diseases at 71% of work-related DALYs and injuries at 30%; the difference from 100% reflects rounding and model presentation.
The modeled risk-factor estimates included the following 2016 worldwide burdens:
- Exposure to at least 55 working hours per week caused an estimated 745,000 deaths and 23.3 million DALYs.
- Occupational particulate matter, gases and fumes caused an estimated 450,000 deaths.
- Occupational injuries caused an estimated 363,000 deaths and 26.4 million DALYs, the largest modeled risk-factor DALY burden.
- Occupational ergonomic factors caused 12.3 million DALYs; this category is broader than office-chair exposure alone.
Selected outcomes show how occupational health includes chronic disease as well as acute injury:
| Selected outcome | Work-related deaths, 2016 | Work-related DALYs, 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Stroke | 398,000 | 12.6 million |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 347,000 | — |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 450,000 | 10.9 million |
| Back and neck pain | — | 12.3 million |
The WHO/ILO model linked stroke to the largest selected health-outcome DALY burden, at 12.6 million DALYs worldwide in 2016. It linked chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to 450,000 deaths and ischaemic heart disease to 347,000 deaths; the source does not isolate any occupation or seating product.
Age patterns also require caution. The estimated work-related death rate peaked at 212.6 per 100,000 people aged 85–89 in 2016, 7.2 times the all-age working-age rate, and some diseases may emerge after long latency from earlier working-life exposures.
U.S. Nonfatal Occupational Injury and Illness Statistics
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private-industry employers in 2024. That total was 3.1% lower than in 2023, but it is an employer-reported estimate and does not cover all workers or unreported conditions.
| U.S. private-industry measure | 2024 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Total reported cases | 2.5 million | 3.1% below 2023 |
| Total recordable case rate | 2.3 per 100 FTE workers | 2.4 in 2023 |
| Injury incidence rate | 2.2 per 100 FTE workers | 2024 |
| Illness cases | 148,000 | 26.0% below 2023 |
| Illness incidence rate | 13.9 per 10,000 FTE workers | 19.0 in 2023 |
| Respiratory illness cases | 54,000 | 46.1% below 2023 |
| Respiratory illness rate | 5.1 per 10,000 FTE workers | 9.5 in 2023 |
Source: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (Annual) News Release – 2024 A01 Results. SOII rates use employer reports and worked-hour estimates; illness counts are not prevalence estimates for all workers.
The 2024 respiratory-illness count was 54,000, down 46.1% from 2023. The broader private-industry illness count fell to 148,000, a 26.0% decrease.
U.S. Nonfatal Cases: Days Away, Restrictions and Exposure Patterns
BLS case-characteristics data for 2023–2024 distinguish cases involving days away from work from cases involving only job transfer or restriction. DAFW means days away from work and can overlap with restriction or transfer, while DJTR means only days of job transfer or restriction in the BLS classification.
| Case measure, private industry | Cases in 2023–2024 | Annualized rate | Median duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAFW | 1.8 million; 61.5% of DART | 86.6 per 10,000 FTE | 8 days away |
| DJTR | 1.1 million; 38.5% of DART | 54.2 per 10,000 FTE | 15 days transfer/restriction |
Source: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses (Annual) News Release – 2024 A01 Results. These are biennial case-characteristics estimates, with rates annualized by BLS.
Overexertion, repetitive motion and bodily conditions caused 946,290 DART cases in private industry during 2023–2024. Exposure to harmful substances and environments produced 224,450 DART cases, of which 87.6%—196,540 cases—required at least one day away from work.
The annualized DAFW rate for novel-coronavirus cases was 5.6 per 10,000 FTE workers in 2023–2024. Among selected occupational groups, healthcare support occupations had the highest reported rate at 32.4 per 10,000 FTE workers, followed by healthcare practitioners and technical occupations at 26.7 per 10,000.
U.S. Fatal Occupational Injury Statistics and Worker Groups
The U.S. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries recorded 5,070 fatal work injuries in 2024, down 4.0% from 5,283 in 2023. The national fatal work-injury rate fell from 3.5 to 3.3 per 100,000 FTE workers, and BLS summarized the frequency as one worker dying from a work-related injury every 104 minutes in 2024, compared with every 99 minutes in 2023.
| U.S. fatal-injury measure | 2024 result | Scope or comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Fatal work injuries | 5,070 | 4.0% below 2023 |
| National fatality rate | 3.3 per 100,000 FTE | 3.5 in 2023 |
| Harmful substances/environments | 687 | 16.2% below 820 in 2023 |
| Drug or alcohol overdoses | 410 | 59.7% of that fatality category |
| Transportation/material-moving occupations | 1,391 | Highest occupational-group count |
Source: Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2024 – 2024 A01 Results. CFOI counts deaths from workplace injuries; illness-related deaths are outside this injury census.
Transportation and material-moving occupations had a fatality rate of 12.5 per 100,000 FTE workers in 2024. Counts and rates describe different aspects of risk, so the occupational group’s 1,391 deaths should not be read as a rate ranking by itself.
Worker-group data also show uneven totals. Black or African American workers had 624 fatal work injuries and a rate of 3.4 per 100,000 FTE workers, while Hispanic or Latino workers had 1,229 deaths and a rate of 4.3 per 100,000.
Foreign-born Hispanic or Latino workers represented 68.5% of Hispanic or Latino worker fatalities in 2024, or 842 deaths. These are CFOI classifications, and the reported rates are subject to sampling error.
European Occupational Accident Statistics and Definitions
Eurostat recorded 2.83 million nonfatal accidents at work in the European Union in 2023, 5% fewer than in 2022, a reduction of 148,935 cases. The EU definition counts nonfatal accidents involving at least four full calendar days of absence.
The EU also recorded 3,298 fatal work-related accidents in 2023, 12 more than in 2022. Fatal accidents were 0.1% of all recorded accidents, and Eurostat defines a fatal accident as a death occurring within one year of the accident.
| EU measure | 2023 result | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Nonfatal accidents at work | 2.83 million | 5% below 2022 |
| Fatal work-related accidents | 3,298 | 12 more than 2022 |
| Fatal accidents as share of all recorded accidents | 0.1% | 2023 |
| Fatal accident incidence rate | 1.63 per 100,000 employed people | 1.66 in 2022; below 2 since 2016 |
Source: Accidents at work claimed 3 298 lives in the EU in 2023. The EU incidence rate uses employed people, while the U.S. fatality rate uses full-time-equivalent workers, so the measures are not directly interchangeable.
The EU rate remained below 2 fatal accidents per 100,000 employed people from 2016 through 2023. Comparing countries or regions still requires attention to case thresholds, workforce denominators, reporting systems, and whether the measure covers injury alone or broader occupational disease.