Workplace safety statistics show the scale of nonfatal injuries and illnesses, the industries and events associated with fatal work injuries, and the inspection activity used to enforce safety rules. The figures below focus on the United States, with 2023 injury and fatality data and fiscal-year 2024 federal OSHA activity; each measure has its own population and definition.
Key Workplace Safety Statistics
The most broadly useful workplace safety statistics include:
- 3,200,200 total recordable nonfatal occupational injury and illness cases were reported across U.S. private, state, and local government workplaces in 2023.
- 2,569,000 total recordable cases were reported by U.S. private-industry employers in 2023.
- 2.4 cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers was the U.S. private-industry total recordable case rate in 2023.
- 2,368,900 nonfatal injury cases occurred in U.S. private industry in 2023.
- 200,100 illness cases occurred in U.S. private industry in 2023, down 56.6% from 2022.
- 1,527,500 DART cases involved days away from work, job restriction, or job transfer in U.S. private industry in 2023.
- 946,500 days-away-from-work cases were recorded in U.S. private industry in 2023.
- 562,500 total recordable cases were reported in U.S. private health care and social assistance in 2023.
- 9.2 cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers was the 2023 total recordable case rate for U.S. private couriers and messengers.
- 19.0 illness cases per 10,000 full-time-equivalent workers was the 2023 U.S. private-industry illness rate.
- 5,283 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2023, down 3.7% from 2022.
- 3.5 fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers was the U.S. fatal injury rate in 2023.
- 1,942 fatal work injuries were caused by transportation incidents in the United States in 2023.
- 1,075 fatal work injuries occurred in U.S. construction in 2023, the highest total among industry sectors.
- 930 fatalities occurred in U.S. transportation and warehousing in 2023.
- 24.4 fatalities per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers was the 2023 fatality rate for U.S. farming, fishing, and forestry occupations.
- 1,089 fatal work injuries involved U.S. workers ages 55 to 64 in 2023.
- 34,625 inspections were conducted by OSHA in federal jurisdiction during fiscal year 2024.
Contents
- Workplace safety injury and illness scale
- Workplace safety trends by industry
- Days away, restricted work, and illness data
- Fatal workplace safety statistics and event types
- Workplace fatalities by industry, occupation, and demographics
- OSHA inspection and enforcement statistics
Workplace Safety Injury and Illness Statistics: Scale
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) provides employer-reported estimates subject to OSHA recordkeeping coverage. Published counts and rates are rounded; where BLS reports a comparison, the change uses unrounded estimates.
In 2023, employers reported 3,200,200 total recordable nonfatal occupational injury and illness cases across U.S. private, state, and local government workplaces. U.S. private industry accounted for 2,569,000 of those total recordable cases. BLS, Table 2
| U.S. private-industry measure | 2023 result | Comparison or definition |
|---|---|---|
| Total recordable cases | 2,569,000 | Down 8.4% from 2022 |
| Total recordable case rate | 2.4 per 100 FTE workers | Down from 2.7 in 2022 |
| Nonfatal injuries | 2,368,900 | Injuries exclude illnesses |
| Illnesses | 200,100 | Down 56.6% from 2022 |
The private-industry injury rate was 2.2 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2023, down from 2.3 in 2022. This is an incidence rate, not the share of unique workers who experienced an injury.
The SOII estimates are not a complete count of every possible workplace health outcome. They represent employer-reported cases meeting OSHA recordkeeping criteria, and the stated illness comparison was statistically significant at the 95% confidence level according to BLS.
Workplace Safety Trends by Industry
Industry totals show both the number of recorded cases and the rate relative to full-time-equivalent employment. Those measures answer different questions: a large industry can have many cases while a smaller industry can have a higher incidence rate.
| Private industry | 2023 total recordable cases | 2023 rate per 100 FTE workers |
|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 562,500 | 3.6 |
| Manufacturing | 355,800 | 2.8 |
| Retail trade | 353,900 | 3.1 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 265,700 | 4.5 |
| Couriers and messengers | 77,000 | 9.2 |
Health care and social assistance fell from 665,300 cases and a rate of 4.5 per 100 FTE workers in 2022 to 562,500 cases and 3.6 in 2023. Manufacturing fell from 396,800 cases in 2022 to 355,800 in 2023, while retail trade recorded 68,800 fewer cases than in 2022.
Transportation and warehousing had 265,700 cases and a 4.5 rate in 2023. Within that sector, couriers and messengers recorded 77,000 cases, equal to 29.0% of sector cases, and had a 9.2 rate.
Food manufacturing recorded 61,400 total injury and illness cases in 2023. Food and beverage stores reported 78,200 injury cases, up 6.5% from 2022; that measure excludes illnesses.
General freight trucking had an injury rate of 2.9 per 100 FTE workers in 2023, down from 3.2 in 2022. Industry comparisons should retain these definitions because injury-only figures are not interchangeable with total recordable case figures. BLS, 2023 annual results
Days Away, Restricted Work, and Illness Safety Data
Days-away-from-work (DAFW) cases measure recordable cases involving time away from work, while DJTR cases involve job transfer or restriction. Together they form DART cases, so the categories should not be added to total recordable cases as if they were separate populations.
- Private industry recorded 1,527,500 DART cases in 2023.
- DAFW cases totaled 946,500, down 20.1% from 2022, and represented 62.0% of DART cases.
- DJTR cases totaled 581,000 and represented 38.0% of DART cases.
- The DAFW rate was 0.9 per 100 FTE workers, down from 1.2 in 2022, while the DJTR rate was 0.6.
Illness rates were reported per 10,000 FTE workers. Private-industry illnesses occurred at 19.0 cases per 10,000 FTE workers in 2023, down from 45.2 in 2022; respiratory illnesses occurred at 9.5, down from 35.8.
| Private-industry population | 2023 respiratory illness rate | 2022 rate |
|---|---|---|
| All private industry | 9.5 per 10,000 FTE workers | 35.8 |
| Health care and social assistance | 44.1 | 134.8 |
| Retail trade | 9.1 | 67.3 |
| Educational services | 7.8 | Not publishable |
Health care and social assistance therefore had a 44.1 respiratory illness rate in 2023, while retail trade had 9.1. Educational services had a 7.8 rate, but BLS did not publish a 2022 comparison rate. BLS, 2023 annual results
Fatal Workplace Safety Statistics and Leading Event Types
The BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) recorded 5,283 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2023, down 3.7% from 5,486 in 2022. The fatal work injury rate was 3.5 per 100,000 FTE workers, down from 3.7; BLS also summarized the count as one worker dying every 99 minutes from a work-related injury.
| Fatal event category | 2023 U.S. fatal work injuries | Share or note |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation incidents | 1,942 | 36.8% of all fatalities |
| Violent acts | 740 | Includes violence by persons and self-inflicted injury |
| Homicides | 458 | 61.9% of violent-act fatalities; 8.7% of all fatalities |
These CFOI counts concern fatal injuries, not illness-related deaths unless an injury event precipitated the death. Fatality rates use employment estimates and are subject to sampling error. BLS, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries—2023
Workplace Fatalities by Industry, Occupation, and Demographic Group
Construction recorded 1,075 fatal work injuries in 2023. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 421 construction fatalities, or 39.2% of the sector total, while transportation incidents accounted for 240, or 22.3%; among fatal construction falls to a lower level, 260 (64.4%) involved heights between 6 and 30 feet.
Transportation and warehousing recorded 930 fatalities in 2023, down 11.7% from 1,053 in 2022. Its fatal injury rate was 12.9 per 100,000 FTE workers, down from 14.1, and transportation incidents represented 667 fatalities, or 71.7% of the sector total.
Occupation and demographic measures add further detail:
- Transportation and material moving occupations had 1,495 fatalities and a 13.6 fatality rate per 100,000 FTE workers in 2023.
- Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations had the highest listed rate, 24.4 per 100,000 FTE workers.
- Workers ages 55 to 64 had 1,089 fatalities, or 20.6% of the total; transportation incidents caused 401 and falls, slips, and trips caused 226.
- Workers ages 25 to 34 had 179 violent-act fatalities, including 121 homicides and 58 suicides.
- Women accounted for 447 fatal work injuries, or 8.5% of the total.
- Foreign-born Hispanic or Latino workers accounted for 839 of 1,250 Hispanic or Latino worker fatalities, or 67.1%.
- The Hispanic or Latino fatal injury rate fell from 4.6 to 4.4 per 100,000 FTE workers between 2022 and 2023.
- Black or African American worker fatalities fell from 734 to 659, a 10.2% decline, while the rate fell from 4.2 to 3.6.
Occupation rates exclude workers under 16, volunteers, and resident military. CFOI introduced updated NAICS and OIICS classifications in 2023, so some comparisons with earlier years require caution. BLS, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries—2023
OSHA Inspection and Enforcement Statistics
OSHA inspection figures describe federal fiscal-year enforcement activity, not the national number of workplaces, incidents, or injuries. In fiscal year 2024, federal OSHA conducted 34,625 inspections, including 17,170 programmed and 17,455 unprogrammed inspections, compared with 34,221 total inspections in FY 2023.
| Federal OSHA activity | FY 2024 | FY 2023 comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Total inspections | 34,625 | 34,221 |
| Fatality/catastrophe inspections | 863 | 952 |
| Complaint inspections | 7,509 | 8,221 |
The final Enforcement Impact Index value was 40,773 for programmed inspections and 50,061 for unprogrammed inspections in FY 2024. These index values are agency enforcement measures, not injury rates or monetary penalties. OSHA, 2024 Enforcement Summary