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TRAUMATIC OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES

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Fast Facts

Most recent traumatic injury data show:

  • 18% of the 1,176,340 nonfatal work injuries resulting in days away from work in 2020 were related to slips, trips, and falls1
  • 196,140 injuries due to contact with objects and equipment in 2020 were so severe that they resulted in time away from work1
  • In 2020, 1,038 U.S. workers died in work-related crashes involving motor vehicles (22% of all deaths)2
  • Workers less than 25 years of age have higher rates of occupational injuries treated in emergency departments than other age groups3, 4
  • An estimated 1.8 million workers sustained work-related injuries and were treated in emergency departments during 20203
  • In 2020, the rate4 of emergency department-treated, work-related injuries was estimated at 127 per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers
  • Male workers accounted for approximately 66% of the work-related injuries treated in emergency departments3
  • The three leading causes of work-related injuries treated in an emergency department were contact with objects and equipment, overexertion and bodily reaction, and falls, slips and trips without a fall3

1Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021). TABLE R4. Number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work by industry and selected events or exposures leading to injury or illness, private industry, 2020

2Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021). )TABLE A-9. Fatal occupational injuries by event or exposure for all fatal injuries and major private industry sector, all United States, 2020 (bls.gov)

3The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) collects the NEISS-Work data as a supplement to its NEISS surveillance of injuries related to consumer products. The NEISS-Work data are mutually exclusive of the consumer product-related data CPSC collects. The present analysis was conducted using raw data files provided to NIOSH/CDC. NEISS-Work data are available from the Work-Related Injury Statistics Query System

4U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey labor force denominator estimates were used to calculate annual rates

Page last reviewed: July 26, 2022
Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health