While workplace injuries overall continue to decline, the costs associated with them are climbing, according to Travelers’ 2025 Injury Impact Report.

The New York City-based insurance company examined 1.2 million workers’ compensation claims over the past five years, down from 1.4 million from 2015–2019. However, claim costs on average are rising mainly due to more claims from older adults, whose injuries typically take longer to recover.

Workers aged 50 or older made up 41% of the injured employee population over the past five years, with those 60 or older comprising 16%, according to the report. This is up from 39% and 13%, respectively, for workers’ comp claims from 2015 through 2019.

“This trend is significant because older employees—while typically injured less frequently than their younger counterparts—tend to require longer recovery times and have more costly claims,” according to the report.

Indeed, injured workers aged 60 or older missed an average of 97 workdays—almost 17 more days than the overall average of 80 workdays for all injured workers filing claims from 2020–2024.

For the construction industry, injured workers missed an average of 115 workdays over the past five years, which is an increase of 14 workdays from the prior five years. One in 10 injured construction workers were aged 60 or older, up from 7% during the previous five years. These workers missed an average of 12 additional days compared to the overall average for the construction industry.

Construction workers’ comp claims were the most expensive—almost double the all-industries average, according to the report. The most common causes of large losses at a cost of $250,000 or more include slips, trips and falls; overexertion; being struck by an object; motor vehicle accidents; and caught-in or caught-between hazards.

The most severe injuries in construction include cardiovascular injuries, multiple traumas, electric shocks, dislocations, head traumas, crushing injuries and amputations.

Workers’ comp claims have also been affected over the past 10 years by increased job turnover leading to more first-year employees—workers who are among the most vulnerable to injury, according to the report. Workers in their first year on the job accounted for roughly 36% of injuries and 34% of overall claim costs during the last five years. This is an increase from the prior five years, when 34% of injuries and 32% of overall claim costs were attributed to new employees.

For the construction industry, 44% of all construction injuries involved  first-year workers, and first-year injuries drove 47% of all construction workers’ compensation claim costs.