For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Wednesday, November 9, 2022 USDL-22-2139

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 – 2021

Private industry employers reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2021, a 

decrease of 1.8 percent from 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. In 2021, the 

incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 full-time 

equivalent (FTE) workers, unchanged from 2020. These estimates are from the Survey of Occupational 

Injuries and Illnesses (SOII).

The decline in injury and illness cases was due to a drop in illness cases, with private industry employers 

reporting 365,200 nonfatal illnesses in 2021, down from 544,600 in 2020, a drop of 32.9 percent. This 

decrease was driven by a 37.1 percent decrease in employer reported respiratory illness cases in 2021 at 

269,600, down from 428,700 in 2020. (See chart 2.) In 2019, there were 127,200 illness cases and 

10,800 respiratory illness cases. Total reported injury cases increased by 6.3 percent to 2.2 million cases

in 2021, up from 2.1 million cases in 2020. (See chart 1.) 

The rate of injury cases increased in 2021, with private industry employers reporting a rate of 2.3 cases 

per 100 FTE workers compared to 2.2 cases in 2020. Over the same period, the rate of illness cases

decreased from 55.9 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers to 37.7 cases. The decrease 

was driven by the drop in the respiratory illness rate, which fell from 44.0 cases per 10,000 FTE workers 

to 27.8 cases. 

 

0

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

3,000,000

Total reported

cases

Injuries Illnesses

2019 2020 2021

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

All illnesses Respiratory illnesses

Chart 1. Total reported, injury, and illness case 

counts, private industry, 2019-21

 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact in SOII Results

Occupational injuries and illnesses collected in the 2021 SOII include cases of COVID-19 when a 

worker was infected as a result of performing their work-related duties and met other recordkeeping 

criteria. COVID-19 is considered a respiratory illness under criteria established by the Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Chart 2. Counts of cases of all illnesses and 

respiratory illnesses, private industry, 2017-21
2 

Chart 3. Total injuries and illnesses in selected industry sectors, thousands, private industry, 2019-21 

There were 1,062,700 nonfatal injuries and illnesses that caused a private industry worker to miss at 

least one day of work in 2021, 9.7 percent lower than in 2020. The rate of cases that caused a worker to 

miss at least one day of work also decreased in 2021, from 1.2 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2020 to 1.1 

cases in 2021. 

Injuries and illnesses by sector 

Total recordable injury and illness cases increased in six private industry sectors in 2021. Retail trade 

and transportation and warehousing had the largest increases in cases. Retail trade increased from 

341,100 cases in 2020 to 404,700 cases in 2021. Transportation and warehousing increased from 

206,900 cases in 2020 to 253,100 cases in 2021. Health care and social assistance was the only private 

industry sector that had a decrease in the total number of cases in 2021, decreasing 183,200 cases to 

623,000 in 2021. (See chart 3.) This was driven by a 163,600 decrease in the number of respiratory 

illness cases in 2021, decreasing to 145,300 respiratory illness cases in this sector. In 2019, there were 

3,500 respiratory illness cases in the private industry health care and social assistance sector. 

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Educational services

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Professional, scientific, and technical services

Transportation and warehousing

Manufacturing

Retail trade

Health care and social assistance

2019 2020 2021

 Case and Demographic Data in the SOII 

Estimates involving days away from work (DAFW) by detailed case characteristics and worker 

demographics for 2021 are not published in this release. In the Fall of 2023, SOII will begin biennial 

publication for DAFW and days of job transfer or restriction (DJTR) for the period 2021-2022. 

Estimates for detailed industry by case type are unchanged.
3 

Chart 4. Respiratory illness incidence rates in selected private industries, 2020-21

Chart 3. Incidence rates for cases resulting in days away from work in selected occupations, private 

industry, 2019-20 

Despite having a decrease in cases, the health care and social assistance sector had the highest rate of 

respiratory illnesses in 2021 with 99.2 cases per 10,000 FTE workers. This rate, however, is 52.7 percent 

lower than in 2020 when the rate was 209.8 cases per 10,000 FTE workers. Retail trade had the next 

highest rate of respiratory illnesses at 37.5 cases per 10,000 FTE workers, a 91.0 percent increase from 

2020 when the incidence rate was 19.6 cases. (See chart 4.) These two sectors accounted for 69.5 

percent of the 269,600 total respiratory illness cases. 

The incidence rate of respiratory illnesses in the private educational services sector increased from 5.5 

cases per 10,000 FTE workers in 2020 to 13.5 cases in 2021, a 144.9 percent increase. 

Health care and social assistance 

Among health care and social assistance industries, three industries had decreases in DAFW rates in 

2021: hospitals at 2.3 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2021 (down from 3.7 cases in 2020), nursing and 

residential care facilities at 4.0 cases (down from 7.9 cases), and ambulatory health care services at 1.1 

cases (down from 1.2 cases). In 2021, the DAFW rate for social assistance was essentially unchanged. 

(See chart 5.) 

0.0 50.0 100.0 150.0 200.0 250.0

Wholesale trade

Utilities

Educational services

Accommodation and food services

Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting

Arts, entertainment, and recreation

Transportation and warehousing

Manufacturing

Retail trade

Health care and social assistance

Incidence rate per 10,000 FTE workers

2020 2021
4 

Chart 5. Incidence rates for cases resulting in days away from work in health care and social assistance 

industries, private industry, 2019-21 

Additional highlights 

x The incidence rate of cases in the private retail trade sector increased from 3.1 in 2020 to 3.6 

cases per 100 FTE workers in 2021, an increase of 15.6 percent. 

x The DAFW rate in private industry food manufacturing decreased from 2.5 cases per 100 FTE 

workers in 2020 to 2.1 cases in 2021, a decrease of 15.1 percent. 

x In 2021, private industry DAFW cases in the transportation and warehousing sector increased 

23.0 percent to 122,700 cases from 99,800 cases in 2020. 

x The number of DJTR cases in the private construction sector increased 10.4 percent in 2021 to 

35,200 cases. 

x The private leisure and hospitality supersector had 235,300 total recordable cases in 2021, which 

occurred at a rate of 2.9 cases per 100 FTE workers. This rate is higher than in 2020 (2.7 cases 

per 100 FTE workers). 

x Other recordable cases in the private industry wholesale trade sector increased 12.1 percent in 

2021 to 40,400 cases. 

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

Nursing and residential

care facilities

Hospitals Ambulatory health care

services

Social assistance

Incidence rate per 100 FTE workers

2019 2020 2021
5 

Additional Information 

This news release is the first of two releases from BLS covering occupational safety and health statistics 

for the 2021 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. A second release on

December 16, 2022, will provide results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) of all 

fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. during the calendar year. 

Nonfatal occupational injury and illness estimates by industry and case type are available at 

www.bls.gov/web/osh.supp.toc.htm. 

Incidence rates and counts by industry and case type published by the Survey of Occupational Injuries 

and Illnesses (SOII) are rounded. However, estimates, percent changes, and significant changes are 

determined using unrounded data, www.bls.gov/iif/factsheets/effects-of-rounding-on-estimates.htm.

Incidence rates per 10,000 workers can be converted to rates per 100 workers by moving the decimal 

point left, two places, and rounding the resulting rate to the nearest tenth. Data users are cautioned to 

account for different levels of precision when analyzing estimates presented in this release. 

BLS has generated estimates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses for many industries as 

defined in the 2017 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) manual. For additional 

information on nonfatal injury and illness estimates, see www.bls.gov/iif/overview/soii-overview.htm 

and www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm#north-american-industry-classification-system-naics. 

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses relies on OSHA recordkeeping requirements, which 

mandate employers record certain work-related injuries and illnesses on their OSHA 300 log, including 

the recording of cases of COVID-19, see www.osha.gov/coronavirus/standards. 

All comparison statements made in this news release are statistically significant at the 95 percent 

confidence level. Additional background and methodological information regarding the BLS 

occupational safety and health statistics program is in the BLS Handbook of Methods at 

www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/home.htm. Additional data from the SOII are available on the BLS website 

at www.bls.gov/iif, from BLS staff at (202) 691-6170, or by email at IIFSTAFF@bls.gov. 

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access 

telecommunications relay services.
Year Total cases(1) Injuries Illnesses Respiratory illnesses

2017 2,811.5 2,685.1 126.4 10.4

2018 2,834.5 2,707.8 126.8 12.1

2019 2,814.0 2,686.8 127.2 10.8

2020 2,654.7 2,110.1 544.6 428.7

2021 2,607.9 2,242.7 365.2 269.6

Footnotes:

(1) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.

TABLE 1. Counts of total nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses, injuries, illnesses, and 

respiratory illnesses, private industry, 2017-21 (thousands)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational 

Injuries and Illnesses, in cooperation with participating state agencies.

6
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021

Private industry(4) 2.8 2.7 2.7 0.9 1.2 1.1

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting(4) 5.2 4.6 4.6 1.7 1.9 1.8

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction(5) 1.2 1.2 1.3 0.5 0.6 0.6

Utilities 2.2 1.5 1.7 0.7 0.6 0.7

Construction 2.8 2.5 2.5 1.1 1.1 1.1

Manufacturing 3.3 3.1 3.3 0.9 1.1 1.2

Wholesale trade 2.7 2.4 2.5 1.0 1.0 1.0

Retail trade 3.4 3.1 3.6 1.0 1.1 1.4

Transportation and warehousing(6) 4.4 4.0 4.6 2.0 1.9 2.2

Information 1.2 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.4

Finance and insurance 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.1 0.2

Real estate and rental and leasing 2.3 2.1 2.0 0.7 0.9 0.8

Professional, scientific, and technical services 0.8 0.7 0.9 0.2 0.2 0.3

Management of companies and enterprises 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.2

Administrative and support and waste management and 

 remediation services – 2.0 1.9 – 0.9 0.9

Educational services 2.0 1.1 1.7 0.6 0.4 0.6

Health care and social assistance 3.8 5.5 4.3 1.0 3.0 1.9

Arts, entertainment, and recreation 4.0 3.0 3.7 1.1 1.0 1.2

Accommodation and food services 3.2 2.6 2.7 0.9 0.8 0.9

Other services (except public administration) 2.0 1.8 1.6 0.7 0.9 0.7

Footnotes:

(4) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.

Note: Dash indicates data do not meet publication guidelines, data may be too small to be displayed.

Industry(1) Total recordable cases(2) Cases with days away from 

work(2),(3)

(1) Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version of NAICS used 

in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.

TABLE 2. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by selected industry and case types, private industry, 2019-21

(2) The incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as:

(N/EH) x 200,000, where N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year; 

200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).

(3) Days-away-from-work cases include those that result in days away from work with or without job transfer or restriction.

(5) Data for Mining (Sector 21 in the North American Industry Classification System) include establishments not governed by the Mine 

Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction and related support activities. Data 

for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining are provided to BLS by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S.

Department of Labor. Independent mining contractors are excluded from the coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries. These data do 

not reflect changes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration made to its recordkeeping requirements effective January 1, 

2002; therefore, estimates for these industries are not comparable to estimates of other industries.

(6) Data for employers in rail transportation are provided to BLS by the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, in cooperation with 

participating state agencies.

7
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021

Private industry(3) 2,814.0 2,654.7 2,607.9 888.2 1,176.3 1,062.7

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting(3) 50.9 45.9 43.5 17.0 18.8 17.1

Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction(4) 9.4 7.5 6.7 4.2 4.0 3.4

Utilities 12.0 8.4 9.0 3.7 3.4 3.9

Construction 200.1 174.1 169.2 79.7 74.5 72.8

Manufacturing 421.4 373.3 385.1 116.1 135.9 137.0

Wholesale trade 153.6 132.2 130.9 55.5 56.5 54.0

Retail trade 395.7 341.1 404.7 120.2 125.6 156.0

Transportation and warehousing(5) 227.9 206.9 253.1 103.6 99.8 122.7

Information 31.6 19.6 18.8 13.0 10.2 9.3

Finance and insurance 26.1 17.4 21.9 7.5 7.8 9.8

Real estate and rental and leasing 46.2 41.8 38.8 14.9 17.1 15.0

Professional, scientific, and technical services 72.8 59.5 77.2 17.2 16.9 22.2

Management of companies and enterprises 16.9 14.9 13.1 4.7 4.8 5.5

Administrative and support and 

 waste management and remediation services – 103.4 97.1 – 46.9 45.6

Educational services 38.6 22.5 32.5 12.1 7.7 10.6

Health care and social assistance 575.2 806.2 623.0 151.4 447.9 276.6

Arts, entertainment, and recreation 56.4 34.3 39.0 15.3 11.5 13.0

Accommodation and food services 288.7 191.0 196.3 82.9 60.9 67.9

Other services (except public administration) 64.6 54.7 48.3 21.8 26.2 20.4

Footnotes:

(3) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.

TABLE 3. Number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by selected industry and case types, private industry, 

2019-21 (thousands)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, in cooperation 

with participating state agencies.

Note: Dash indicates data do not meet publication guidelines, data may be too small to be displayed.

Industry(1) Total recordable cases Cases with days away from 

work(2)

(1) Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version 

of NAICS used in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: 

https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.

(2) Days-away-from-work cases include those that result in days away from work with or without job transfer or 

restriction.

(4) Data for Mining (Sector 21 in the North American Industry Classification System) include establishments not governed 

by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction and 

related support activities. Data for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining are provided to BLS by the Mine 

Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Independent mining contractors are excluded from the coal, 

metal, and nonmetal mining industries. These data do not reflect changes the Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration made to its recordkeeping requirements effective January 1, 2002; therefore, estimates for these 

industries are not comparable to estimates of other industries.

(5) Data for employers in rail transportation are provided to BLS by the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. 

Department of Transportation.

8
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021

Health care and social assistance 1.0 3.0 1.9 151,410 447,890 276,600

Nursing and residential care facilities 1.7 7.9 4.0 44,020 205,780 96,400

Hospitals 1.3 3.7 2.3 52,140 148,360 90,000

Ambulatory health care services 0.5 1.2 1.1 32,050 70,110 64,400

Social assistance 1.0 1.0 1.1 23,210 23,630 25,900

Footnotes:

TABLE 4. Numbers and incidence rates for cases resulting in days away from work of nonfatal occupational injuries and 

illnesses in selected private health care and social assistance industries, 2019-21

(2) The incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as:

(N/EH) x 200,000, where N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the 

calendar year; 200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, in cooperation 

with participating state agencies.

Industry(1) Rate(2) Number

(1) Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version 

of NAICS used in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: 

https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.

9