Every day, thousands of workers face unseen dangers, a harsh reality underscored by the alarming fact that 2022 saw a 5.7% rise in U.S. workplace fatalities, totaling 5,486 lives lost.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, the United States recorded 5,486 fatal workplace injuries, marking a 5.7% increase from 5,190 in 2021.
- Transportation incidents were the leading cause of fatal workplace injuries in 2022, accounting for 1,874 deaths or 37.2% of the total.
- Falls, slips, and trips caused 865 fatal injuries in the US in 2022, representing 15.7% of all workplace fatalities.
- Private industry recorded 2,831,600 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in 2022, requiring days away from work.
- The total recordable incidence rate for nonfatal injuries in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2022.
- Sprains, strains, and tears were the most common nonfatal injury type, accounting for 258,650 cases with days away in 2022.
- In 2022, private industry incidence rate for cases with days away was 75.9 per 10,000 FTE.
- Total recordable case rate for construction was 2.6 per 100 FTE in 2022.
- Manufacturing total recordable rate: 3.4 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2022.
- Construction industry recorded 161,140 total recordable nonfatal cases in 2022.
- Manufacturing had 410,300 total recordable cases in private industry 2022.
- Trade, transportation, utilities: 774,100 total recordable cases 2022.
- Overexertion was the leading event for nonfatal injuries, 19.2% of cases in 2022 US.
- Falls to lower level caused 27.1% of construction fatal injuries in 2022.
- Roadway collisions involving motorized land vehicles: 42.3% of transportation fatalities 2022.
Workplace injuries in the US increased last year and remain a global problem.
By Industry
- Construction industry recorded 161,140 total recordable nonfatal cases in 2022.
- Manufacturing had 410,300 total recordable cases in private industry 2022.
- Trade, transportation, utilities: 774,100 total recordable cases 2022.
- Financial activities: 110,200 total recordable cases in 2022.
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting: 57,650 total cases 2022.
- Nursing and residential care facilities: 206,000 total recordable cases 2022.
- Hospitals: 358,500 total recordable nonfatal cases in 2022.
- Transportation and warehousing: 178,500 total recordable cases 2022.
- Retail trade: 397,200 total recordable cases in 2022.
- Leisure and hospitality: 547,900 total recordable cases 2022.
- Mining: 20,770 total recordable cases in 2022.
- Utilities: 15,860 total recordable cases 2022.
- Information sector: 33,650 total cases 2022.
- Professional and business services: 439,900 total recordable 2022.
- Education and health services: 786,300 total cases 2022.
- Construction fatal injuries: 1,056 in 2022 US private.
- Agriculture fatal: 509 in 2022.
- Manufacturing fatal: 373 in 2022.
- Transportation/warehousing fatal: 1,340 in 2022.
- Healthcare/social assistance fatal: 462 in 2022.
- EU construction sector: 832 fatal accidents in 2021.
- UK construction injuries: 65,000 non-fatal in 2021/22.
- Australia mining serious claims: 4,100 in 2021/22.
- Canada construction lost-time claims: 35,000 in 2021.
- US wholesale trade total cases: 88,600 in 2022.
By Industry Interpretation
It seems the race for "most perilous paperwork" is neck and neck between sectors that build our world and those who care for its people, reminding us that danger wears both a hard hat and scrubs.
Causes
- Overexertion was the leading event for nonfatal injuries, 19.2% of cases in 2022 US.
- Falls to lower level caused 27.1% of construction fatal injuries in 2022.
- Roadway collisions involving motorized land vehicles: 42.3% of transportation fatalities 2022.
- Violence by person: 77.5% of healthcare fatal injuries in 2022.
- Slip/trip/fall leading cause of nonfatal in leisure/hospitality, 23.5% 2022.
- Nature of injury: Sprains/tears 29.5% of days away cases 2022.
- Body part affected most: Upper extremities 32.3% nonfatal 2022.
- Struck by object: 22.5% of construction nonfatal days away 2022.
- Needlestick injuries in healthcare: 385,000 annually estimated US.
- Lifting as primary source of overexertion: 34.1% of cases 2022.
- Falls on same level: 24.0% of retail trade nonfatal 2022.
- Machinery involvement: 15.2% manufacturing fatal 2022.
- Chemical exposures: Leading in agriculture nonfatal illnesses.
- Homicides: 458 workplace fatalities in 2022 US.
- Suicides: 288 fatal work injuries 2022.
- Pedestrian struck by vehicle: 242 fatalities 2022.
- EU falls from height: 29% of fatal accidents 2021.
- UK slips/trips: 29% of non-fatal injuries 2021/22.
- Australia manual handling: 32% serious claims 2021/22.
- Canada falls: 23% of lost-time claims 2021.
Causes Interpretation
From retail floors to construction heights, the workplace often demands our bodies do the heavy lifting, but the data loudly suggests we're lifting far too much, landing far too hard, and getting hit far too often.
Economic Costs
- US total direct costs of workplace injuries: $171 billion in 2022.
- Indirect costs estimated at 4 times direct costs, totaling $684 billion US 2022.
- Workers' compensation benefits: $66.5 billion paid in 2021 US.
- Average cost per medically consulted injury: $42,000 in 2022 US.
- Cost per fatality: $1.41 million average US 2022.
- Construction injury costs: $11.5 billion direct in 2021.
- Manufacturing: $46 billion total costs annually recent years.
- Healthcare worker injury costs: $7 billion workers' comp yearly.
- Lost productivity from injuries: $59.5 billion US 2022.
- Property damage from work injuries: $5.6 billion annually US.
- Fire/explosion costs: $9.3 billion per year US.
- Average workers' comp claim cost: $41,757 in 2021.
- California workers' comp benefits: $15.3 billion in 2021.
- Global economic loss from occupational injuries: 4% of GDP per ILO.
- EU cost of accidents: €240 billion annually (3.3% GDP).
- UK occupational injury costs: £18.8 billion in 2020/21.
- Australia work injury costs: AUD 60.6 billion in 2020/21.
- Median cost for back injuries: $50,000 per claim US.
- Shoulder injury average cost: $30,200 US.
- Cost of falls at work: $70 billion annually US.
- Needlestick injury cost per incident: $2,161 average.
Economic Costs Interpretation
America’s workplaces are running a shockingly lucrative side hustle in human tragedy, racking up a tab of over $850 billion a year to remind us that cutting corners on safety is the most expensive line item a business will ever fail to budget for.
Fatalities
- In 2022, the United States recorded 5,486 fatal workplace injuries, marking a 5.7% increase from 5,190 in 2021.
- Transportation incidents were the leading cause of fatal workplace injuries in 2022, accounting for 1,874 deaths or 37.2% of the total.
- Falls, slips, and trips caused 865 fatal injuries in the US in 2022, representing 15.7% of all workplace fatalities.
- In 2021, private construction industry had 1,056 fatal work injuries in the US.
- Violence and other injuries by persons or animals resulted in 746 fatal workplace injuries in the US in 2022.
- Contact with objects and equipment caused 691 fatal injuries in US workplaces in 2022.
- Exposure to harmful substances or environments led to 578 fatal work injuries in 2022 in the US.
- Fires, explosions, and other events caused 64 fatal workplace injuries in the US in 2022.
- In 2020, COVID-19 was associated with 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in the US, the highest ever recorded.
- California's workplace fatalities totaled 15.4 per 100,000 FTE workers in 2022.
- Texas reported 614 fatal work injuries in 2022.
- Florida had 12.9 fatal work injuries per 100,000 FTE in 2022.
- New York recorded 9.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 FTE workers in 2022.
- Pennsylvania saw 11.2 fatal workplace injuries per 100,000 FTE in 2022.
- Construction and extraction occupations had 1,456 fatal injuries in 2022 in the US.
- Transportation and material moving occupations accounted for 1,555 fatal work injuries in 2022.
- In 2019, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting had 22.1 fatal injuries per 100,000 FTE.
- Mining, quarrying, and oil/gas extraction industry fatal rate was 14.4 per 100,000 FTE in 2022.
- Globally, 340 million workers suffer occupational accidents annually, leading to 2.78 million work-related deaths per ILO estimates.
- In the EU-27, 3,359 fatal accidents at work occurred in 2021.
- UK workplace fatalities totaled 135 in 2021/22.
- Australia's work-related fatalities were 197 in 2022.
- Canada reported 919 workplace fatalities in 2021.
- In 2022, men accounted for 92.4% of all fatal work injuries in the US.
- Hispanic or Latino workers had a fatal injury rate of 4.3 per 100,000 FTE in 2022 in the US.
- Black or African American workers' fatal rate was 3.9 per 100,000 FTE in 2022.
- Workers aged 35-44 had the highest number of fatal injuries at 1,645 in 2022 US.
- Self-employed workers had 937 fatal injuries in 2022 in the US.
- Government workers experienced 708 fatal injuries in 2022 US.
- In private industry, 4,683 fatal workplace injuries occurred in 2022 US.
Fatalities Interpretation
While 5,486 families lost a loved one at work in the U.S. last year, a grim reminder that our commutes, construction sites, and even our colleagues can be statistically deadlier than most of our fears, there is still a colossal, global gap between the safety standards we promise and the preventable tragedies we accept.
Nonfatal Injuries
- Private industry recorded 2,831,600 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in 2022, requiring days away from work.
- The total recordable incidence rate for nonfatal injuries in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2022.
- Sprains, strains, and tears were the most common nonfatal injury type, accounting for 258,650 cases with days away in 2022.
- Soreness and pain cases totaled 129,570 with days away from work in 2022 private industry.
- In 2022, 668,400 nonfatal injuries/illnesses occurred in goods-producing industries requiring days away.
- Service-providing industries had 2,163,200 nonfatal cases with days away in 2022.
- Nursing and residential care facilities reported 133,550 nonfatal cases with days away in 2022.
- Construction industry had 150,360 nonfatal injuries with days away in 2022.
- Manufacturing sector recorded 334,950 nonfatal cases requiring days away in 2022.
- Retail trade had 319,900 nonfatal injuries/illnesses with days away in 2022.
- The median days away from work for nonfatal injuries was 11 days in private industry 2022.
- Women accounted for 34.9% of nonfatal injury cases with days away in 2022 private industry.
- Workers aged 25-34 had 555,770 nonfatal cases with days away in 2022.
- In 2021, total nonfatal cases were 2,558,200 in private industry with days away.
- Overexertion involved 246,580 nonfatal cases in 2022 private industry.
- Falls on same level caused 152,890 nonfatal injuries with days away in 2022.
- Struck by object or equipment led to 145,650 cases in 2022.
- In healthcare, 564,810 nonfatal recordable cases occurred in 2022.
- Globally, 374 million non-fatal work accidents occur annually per ILO.
- EU-27 had 3.3 million non-fatal accidents at work in 2021.
- UK non-fatal injuries reported under RIDDOR were 565,000 in 2021/22.
- Australia's non-fatal serious claims totaled 105,338 in 2021/22.
- Canada had 229,472 accepted lost-time claims in 2021.
- US private industry total recordable cases: 2.8 million in 2022.
- Cases with job transfer or restriction: 486,100 in private industry 2022.
- Other reactions: 121,050 cases with days away in 2022.
Nonfatal Injuries Interpretation
These statistics reveal a rather grim truth: the workplace remains an incredibly efficient factory for manufacturing pain, strain, and inconvenience, producing millions of human-hours lost each year to mishaps that are almost comically mundane yet profoundly costly.
Rates
- In 2022, private industry incidence rate for cases with days away was 75.9 per 10,000 FTE.
- Total recordable case rate for construction was 2.6 per 100 FTE in 2022.
- Manufacturing total recordable rate: 3.4 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2022.
- Nursing care facilities rate: 7.7 total recordable cases per 100 FTE in 2022.
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting rate: 4.9 per 100 FTE in 2022.
- Retail trade incidence rate: 2.7 cases per 100 FTE in 2022.
- Fatal injury rate for private industry: 3.7 per 100,000 FTE in 2022 US.
- Construction fatal rate: 9.6 per 100,000 FTE workers in 2022.
- Transportation/warehousing fatal rate: 13.6 per 100,000 FTE in 2022.
- Agriculture fatal rate: 18.6 per 100,000 FTE in 2022.
- Nonfatal days away rate highest in leisure/hospitality at 99.0 per 10,000 FTE in 2022.
- Private industry median days away: 8 days for total recordables in 2022.
- California nonfatal injury rate: 2.2 per 100 FTE in 2022.
- Texas total recordable rate: 2.1 per 100 FTE private industry 2022.
- EU-27 standardized incidence rate for fatal accidents: 1.68 per 100,000 in 2021.
- UK fatal injury rate: 0.39 per 100,000 workers in 2021/22.
- Australia serious claim frequency rate: 0.95 per million hours worked in 2021/22.
- Canada lost-time claim rate: 1.12 per 100 FTE in 2021.
- Global occupational injury rate estimated at 23% of workforce annually by WHO/ILO.
- US construction nonfatal rate with days away: 129.0 per 10,000 FTE in 2022.
- Healthcare practitioners rate: 79.7 days away cases per 10,000 FTE 2022.
- Transportation rate: 112.3 per 10,000 FTE days away 2022.
Rates Interpretation
While the numbers confirm that nursing a hangover is safer than nursing a patient in 2022, we should build, transport, and farm far more carefully, lest our only growth industry becomes manufacturing funerals.
Sources & References
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