https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/osh.pdf

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their yearly report on workplace injuries and illnesses, and this year there were fewer nonfatal injury and illness cases than were reported in 2017 than in 2016 though the rate did not fall by that much.

There were 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2017, a rate of 2.8 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers. The rate in 2016 was 2.9 cases per 100 FTE workers. There were 45,800 fewer cases in 2017. Apart from 2012, the number of total recordable cases has declined every year since 2004 when the rate was 4.8 cases per 100 FTE workers.

Rates for different types of cases like days away from work, days of job transfer or restriction and other categories of recordable cases did not change from 2016 to 2017. Almost a third of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses result in days away from work. The median days away from work, which could indicate severity, was 8, which did not change from 2016.

Among 19 private industry sectors, only manufacturing and finance and insurance experienced significant changes in their overall rates of nonfatal injuries and illnesses, each declining by 0.1 cases per 100 FTE workers.

In manufacturing sprains, strains and tears were the leading type of injury with a rate of 27.5 cases per 10,000 FTE workers which was unchanged from 2016. The rate of musculoskeletal disorders and days away from work cases where the event was overexertion both fell from 2016.

Read the news release from the BLS.