Workplace Injuries, Illnesses and Fatalities, 2020
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires an employer to record the following occupational safety and health cases on special forms as a means of monitoring worker safety and health:
- Death
- Loss of consciousness
- Days away from work
- Restricted work activity or job transfer
- Medical treatment (beyond first aid)
- Significant work-related injuries or illnesses that are diagnosed by a physician or other licensed health care professional, including cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fractured or cracked bone, and a punctured eardrum
Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2020
The latest official data for the United States is released annually by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This data is typically in retrospect by two years. The latest 2020 information is summarized below:
- There were 4,764 fatal work injuries.
- A worker died every 111 minutes from a work-related injury.
- Transportation incidents remained the most frequent type of fatal event, with 1,778 fatal injuries, accounting for 37.3 percent of all work-related fatalities.
- The share of Hispanic or Latino workers fatally injured on the job continued to grow, increasing to 22.5 percent (1,072 fatalities) from 20.4 percent (1,088 fatalities) in 2019.
- Workers in transportation and material moving occupations and construction and extraction occupations accounted for nearly half of all fatal occupational injuries (47.4 percent), representing 1,282 fatalities and 976 fatalities respectively.
Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in 2020
- Private industry employers reported 2.7 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2020. While injury cases declined in 2020, illness cases more than quadrupled in 2020.
- Nursing care facilities had the highest incidence rate of nonfatal occupational injury and illness cases in 2020. Other industries rounding out the top 20 highest incidence rates include but not limited to: correctional institutions, manufacturing facilities, couriers and express delivery services, and meat processing facilities.
- Ten occupations accounted for 38.3 percent of all private industry cases involving days away from work. Of these, nursing assistants had the highest number of [can we spell this out first reference?] DAFW cases with 96,480, an increase of 68,890 cases (249.7 percent) from 2019. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had 43,500 DAFW cases in 2020, a decrease of 4,490 cases (9.4 percent). DAFW cases for laborers and freight, stock and material movers, hand [is something missing here?] were essentially unchanged in 2020.
In 2020, the median (midpoint) number of days away from work in all private industry occupations was 12 days, which was an increase from 8 days in 2019. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers increased to 23 days in 2020 from 19 days in 2019.
Data Resources
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2020 – 2020 A01 Results (bls.gov)
Number and rate of fatal work injuries by industry sector (bls.gov)
Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2020 – 2020 A01 Results (bls.gov)
Examining evidence on whether BLS undercounts workplace injuries and illnesses
Recordkeeping – Overview | Occupational Safety and Health Administration (osha.gov)