According to Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in November, the number of reported workplace injuries and illnesses in the U.S. private sector in 2023 was an estimated 2.6 million—down 8.4% from about 2.8 million the year before.

A 56.6% decrease in illnesses brings the number of cases reported to its lowest level since 2019. The BLS attributes this to a 72.6% drop in respiratory illnesses (44.1 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent [FTE] workers in 2023). The rate of nonfatal injuries fell to 2.2 per 100 FTE workers, down slightly from 2.3 in 2022.

Another important statistic revealed in the survey concerns the number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses that resulted in days away from work. With an estimated total of 946,500, this amounts to a 20.1% decrease from 2022.

Industries in which the total recordable rate decreased include:

• Transportation and warehousing (4.5 per 100 FTE workers)
• Healthcare and social assistance (3.6)
• Retail trade (3.1)
• Manufacturing (2.8)
• Construction (2.3)
• Administrative and support (1.8)
• Waste management and remediation services (1.8)

Conversely, while the private industry injury rate was down in 2023, total injury cases (2,368,900) were essentially unchanged from 2022. In fact, the total recordable rate rose for some industries, such as forestry, fishing and hunting (4.2) and utilities (1.8), with injuries increasing 6.5% in food and beverage stores over 2022.

This survey is the first of two annual reports from the BLS covering occupational safety and health statistics for the 2023 calendar year. The second is scheduled for release on Dec. 19, 2024, and will focus on worker fatalities by providing results from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries of all fatal work injuries occurring in the United States during the calendar year.