According to a new U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, private industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, down 3.1 percent from 2023. This is the lowest number of employer-reported injuries and illnesses for this data series going back to 2003.

This reduction was largely driven by a 26.0% drop in illness cases, which totaled 148,000, including a significant 46.1% decrease in respiratory illnesses to 54,000 – the lowest level since 2019.

The overall incidence rate for total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry fell to 2.3 cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, down from 2.4 in 2023, marking the lowest rate in over two decades. Injuries accounted for the majority, with an incidence rate of 2.2 per 100 FTE workers, while the illness rate decreased to 13.9 cases per 10,000 FTE workers from 19.0 in 2023, and respiratory illnesses dropped to 5.1 per 10,000 FTE workers.

Notable declines in TRC incidence rates occurred across several sectors, including information (0.7 per 100 FTE workers, down from 1.0), health care and social assistance (3.4 per 100 FTE workers, down from 3.6), retail trade, manufacturing, and real estate and rental and leasing.

No industry sector experienced an increase in its TRC rate.

For the biennial period of 2023-2024, cases involving days away from work (DAFW) totaled 1.8 million, comprising 61.5% of days away, restricted, or transferred (DART) cases, with an annualized incidence rate of 86.6 per 10,000 FTE workers and a median of 8 days away. Days of job transfer or restriction (DJTR) cases numbered 1.1 million, or 38.5% of DART cases, with an incidence rate of 54.2 per 10,000 FTE workers and a median of 15 days.

Leading causes of DART cases included overexertion, repetitive motion, and bodily conditions (946,290 cases) and contact incidents (860,050 cases), while exposure to harmful substances and environments resulted in 224,450 cases, with 87.6% requiring at least one day away from work.

Under the updated Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS), a new category for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases was introduced, showing an annualized DAFW incidence rate of 5.6 per 10,000 FTE workers in private industry for 2023-2024. The highest COVID-19 rates by occupation were in healthcare support (32.4 per 10,000 FTE workers) and healthcare practitioners and technical roles (26.7 per 10,000 FTE workers).

All reported changes were statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, with data for mining incorporating preliminary figures from the Mine Safety and Health Administration.