Occupational Profile

Detailed nonfatal data starting in 2023-2024

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has transitioned from an annual to a biennial (every two years) publication schedule.  The final publication of a single year of cases involving days away from work estimates was for reference year 2020. The most recent BLS detailed data cover 2023 and 2024 for Days Away from Work (DAFW), Days of Job Transfer or Restriction (DJTR), and Days Away from Work, Job Restriction, or Transfer (DART) cases.

New event categories starting in 2023

The BLS has updated the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System starting with the 2023 data year. The update includes changes to how injury and illness events are classified. This change is considered a data break, therefore, comparing counts to previous years is often unavailable and, when available, should be done with caution. Currently, 2024 fatality data are using the new classification categories, while the most recent nonfatal 2023-2024 data use the previous classification categories.

Occupational profiles provide data on the characteristics of injured and ill workers and the injuries and illnesses that affected them by occupational category. These data, which may be used to help set priorities for occupational safety and health programs and for benchmarking, indicate how many workers died from on-the-job injuries and how many were affected by nonfatal injuries and illnesses.

The fatality information only covers deaths due to injuries and comes from the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI). The data are for calendar years 2011-2024 and include wage and salary workers, the self-employed, and unpaid family workers in all types of businesses and industries.

The data on nonfatal cases cover occupational injuries and illnesses and come from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) for 2011-2022. From 2011 through 2020, annual estimates are available for the number of DAFW cases (with or without days of restricted work activity). Starting in 2021, biennial estimates are available for DAFW, DJTR, and DART cases. This page highlights both DAFW and DART estimates. The latest estimate period available reflects cases occurring in 2021 and 2022. For most industries, nonfatal case data do not cover the self-employed, unpaid family workers, or federal, state, or local government employees.

In 2024, the occupations experiencing the most fatalities include:

  • Transportation and material moving (1,391 – 28% of total)
  • Construction and extraction (1,032 – 21% of total)
  • Installation, maintenance, and repair (437 – 9% of total)
  • Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance (356 – 7% of total)

In 2023-2024, the occupations experiencing the most DAFW cases include:

  • Transportation and material moving (468,830 – 26% of total)
  • Production (184,660 – 10% of total)
  • Installation, maintenance, and repair (158,260 – 9% of total)
  • Food preparation and serving (149,300 – 8% of total)

In 2023-2024, the occupations experiencing the most DART cases include:

  • Transportation and material moving (805,900 – 27% of total)
  • Production (357,390 – 12% of total)
  • Installation, maintenance, and repair (244,270 – 8% of total)
  • Food preparation and serving (228,170 – 8% of total)

Data are presented for the sex, age, and race or ethnic origin of the worker and for the nature of the injury or illness, the source of the injury or illness, the industry of the worker, and the event or exposure that produced the injury or illness. Use the filters to select the industry sector of interest and the injury measure to view:

  • Fatal cases
  • DAFW cases
  • DART cases

All fatality data are available annually, while DAFW data are available annually through 2020. Starting in 2021, biennial data are available for both DAFW and DART. Because DAFW data transitioned from annual reporting to biennial reporting in 2021, care should be used when comparing trends. Starting with 2023 fatality data, BLS has implemented an update to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification system. Because of this change, comparison of counts and rates starting in 2023 to previous years for some categories is not possible.

Please note: BLS did not report nature of injury information for fatalities in 2023. BLS suppresses industry estimates if they don’t meet certain criteria for both reliability and confidentiality.

  • Chart
  • Data Table
How to Use Injury Facts® Charts and Tables

Source: BLS, U.S. Department of Labor. Nonfatal data for the nature code “Other diseases due to viruses, not elsewhere classified (nec)” (COVID-19) were provided by BLS through special request and have not been otherwise published by BLS.