11/09/2017 News Release: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses--2016 

For release 10:00 a.m. (EST) Thursday, November 9, 2017		USDL-17-1482 

Technical information:	(202) 691-6170  *IIFSTAFF@bls.gov    	*www.bls.gov/iif	
Media contact:	        (202) 691-5902 	*PressOffice@bls.gov 

Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses – 2016 

There were approximately 2.9 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private 
industry employers in 2016, which occurred at a rate of 2.9 cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) 
workers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/summ1_00.xlsx 
and www.bls.gov/web/osh/summ2_00.xlsx.) Private industry employers reported nearly 48,500 fewer 
nonfatal injury and illness cases in 2016 compared to a year earlier, according to estimates from the 
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII).

(Chart 1 appears here in the printed release.) 

•The 2016 rate of total recordable cases (TRC) fell 0.1 cases per 100 FTE workers to continue a 
pattern of declines that, apart from 2012, occurred annually since 2004. (See chart 1.)
•The rate of other recordable cases (ORC) declined by 0.1 cases, while rates for remaining case 
types-—days away from work, job transfer or restriction (DART); days away from work (DAFW); 
and days of job transfer or restriction only (DJTR)-—were unchanged from a year earlier.
•The rate for DJTR cases has remained at 0.7 cases per 100 FTE workers since 2011.
•Nearly one-third of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses were of a more serious nature and 
resulted in days away from work.

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
|                               Changes To News Release Format                                          |
| Beginning with the 2016 reference year, the SOII will issue a single release of national data. This   |
| release includes industry counts and rates, along with case circumstances and worker characteristics  |
| for cases requiring days away from work. In previous years, these data were released separately.      |
|_______________________________________________________________________________________________________|

(Chart 2 appears here in the printed release.)

•Four private industry sectors—construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and retail trade—
experienced statistically significant declines in the TRC rate of occupational injuries and illnesses in 
2016. (See chart 2.)
•Finance and insurance was the only industry sector in which the TRC rate of injuries and illnesses 
increased in 2016; though, the relatively low number of cases reported in this sector yielded the 
lowest rate among all private industry sectors (0.6 cases per 100 FTE workers).
•The TRC rate of work-related injuries and illnesses was unchanged among the 14 remaining private 
industry sectors in 2016.

Cases resulting in days away from work
 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| Data and analysis in this section highlight case circumstances and worker characteristics—-for          |
| example, worker occupation, event or exposure, and the nature of the injury or illness, among           |
| others—-that are available for nonfatal injuries and illnesses that resulted in days away from work.    |
|                                                                                                         |
| Note: Counts and incidence rates of case circumstances and worker characteristics for cases with        |
| days away from work (DAFW) estimates are presented at a different precision level than for other        |
| case types. Data users are cautioned to account for different levels of precision when analyzing        |
| estimates presented in this release. In this section, it is implied that statements refer to DAFW cases |
| unless otherwise noted.                                                                                 |
|_________________________________________________________________________________________________________|

There were 892,270 occupational injuries and illnesses in 2016 that resulted in days away from work in 
private industry, essentially unchanged from the number reported for 2015. The private industry 
incidence rate for DAFW cases was 91.7 per 10,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers in 2016. The 
median days away from work—-a key measure of the severity of cases—-was 8 days in 2016, unchanged 
from 2015. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r1.xlsx, www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r5.xlsx, and 
www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r65.xlsx.)

Of the four private industry sectors whose rates of total recordable cases declined in 2016-—
construction, manufacturing, wholesale trade, and retail trade—-only retail trade (122,390) and 
manufacturing (118,050) had more than 100,000 DAFW cases. Of these two industry sectors, only 
manufacturing had a decrease in both the count and incidence rate for DAFW cases in 2016. (See 
www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r1.xlsx and www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r5.xlsx.)

•In manufacturing, the number of DAFW cases fell by 4,560 (4 percent) to 118,050 in 2016. (See 
chart 3.) This resulted in an incidence rate of 94.9 cases per 10,000 FTE workers in 2016, down from 
99.0 cases in 2015. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r5.xlsx.) 
•Workers in manufacturing who sustained occupational injuries and illnesses resulting in days away 
from work in 2016 required a median of 9 days to return to work, unchanged from 2015. (See 
www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r65.xlsx.)
•Injuries and illnesses to production workers accounted for 64 percent (75,070 cases) of total DAFW 
cases in manufacturing in 2016, a decrease of 3,510 cases from 2015. (See 
www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r44.xlsx.)
•Injuries and illnesses to transportation and material moving workers accounted for 18 percent 
(21,100 cases) of the total DAFW cases in manufacturing, which was a decrease of 950 cases from 
2015. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r44.xlsx.)

(Chart 3 appears here in the printed release.)

•In manufacturing, 19 percent (22,040) of the DAFW cases were the result of falls, slips, or trips in 
2016, a decline of 1,470 cases from 2015 levels. (See chart 3 and www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r4.xlsx.) 
This resulted in an incidence rate of 17.7 cases per 10,000 FTE workers in 2016, down from a rate of 
19.0 cases in 2015. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r8.xlsx.)  
•Other leading events or exposures in manufacturing in 2016 included contact with object or 
equipment (35.4 cases per 10,000 FTE workers) and overexertion and bodily reaction (34.1 cases). 
Both rates were essentially unchanged from 2015. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r8.xlsx.)

(Chart 4 appears here in the printed release.)

•In manufacturing, the rate of sprains, strains, or tears (28.2 cases per 10,000 FTE workers); cuts, 
lacerations, or punctures (12.0 cases); soreness or pain (12.0 cases); and fractures (10.1 cases) were 
among the leading types of injury or illness cases resulting in days away from work in 2016. (See 
chart 4 and www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r5.xlsx.)
•Sprains, strains, or tears accounted for 30 percent (35,110) of the DAFW cases in manufacturing, a 
decrease of 2,480 cases from 2015. (See www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r1.xlsx.) These cases occurred at 
a rate of 28.2 cases per 10,000 FTE workers in 2016, down from 30.3 cases in 2015. (See chart 4 and 
www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r5.xlsx.)
•Cuts, lacerations, or punctures accounted for 13 percent (14,960) of the DAFW cases in 
manufacturing, a decrease of 720 cases from 2015. This contributed to a decrease in the incidence 
rate in 2016 for cuts, lacerations, or punctures to 12.0 cases per 10,000 FTE workers, down from 
12.7 cases in 2015. (See chart 4 and www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r1.xlsx and 
www.bls.gov/web/osh/cd_r5.xlsx.)

Additional Information

This news release is the first in a series of two releases from BLS covering occupational safety and 
health statistics for the 2016 calendar year. The SOII presents estimates of counts and incidence rates of 
employer-reported nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses by industry and type of case, as well as 
more detailed estimates of case circumstances and worker characteristics for cases that resulted in days 
away from work.

A second release in December will provide data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) 
of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. The CFOI uses diverse state, 
federal, and independent data sources to identify, verify, and describe fatal work injuries to ensure that 
counts are as complete and accurate as possible.

BLS has generated estimates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses for many industries as 
defined in the 2012 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manual. Tables including 
cross-tabulations for various case circumstances and worker characteristics are also available. (See 
www.bls.gov/web/osh.supp.toc.htm.) A complete listing of SOII estimates is not available in this 
release. See www.bls.gov/iif/oshsum1.htm for additional information on nonfatal injury and illness 
industry estimates or see www.bls.gov/iif/oshcase1.htm for additional background information regarding 
case circumstances and worker characteristics among SOII estimates.

Additional data from the SOII are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/iif/ or from BLS staff at 
(202) 691-6170 or by email at IIFSTAFF@bls.gov. Information in this release will be made available to 
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 
877-8339.

All statements of comparison made in this news release were found to be statistically significant at the 
95 percent confidence level. See www.bls.gov/iif/undercount.htm for additional information regarding 
completeness of SOII estimates. Additional background and methodological information regarding the 
BLS occupational safety and health statistics program can be found in Chapter 9 of the BLS Handbook 
of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/pdf/soii.pdf.