Research—
Severe workplace injuries peaked in 2018 — and never returned to pre-pandemic levels
Federal OSHA severe-injury reports rose through the 2010s to 11,156 in 2018, then fell 19% in 2020 and have stayed on a lower plateau every year since. The full 2015–2025 trend.
Federal OSHA's Severe Injury Report archive spans 2015 through 2025. Counting the 105,313 reports by the year of the incident reveals a clear break: severe-injury reporting climbed steadily through the 2010s, peaked at 11,156 reports in 2018, and then fell sharply in 2020 — and has not returned to its pre-pandemic level since.
Reports dropped from 11,071 in 2019 to 8,915 in 2020, a 19% fall, as the pandemic idled large parts of the economy. But unlike the economy, the count never fully rebounded: every year from 2020 through 2024 has stayed in the 8,703–9,110 band, well below the 2017–2019 peak years above 10,000. The same durable, post-2020 plateau shows up when you isolate amputations — see Workplace amputations fell after 2019 and never returned.
Severe-injury reports by year
Each row opens that year's live, filterable records.
| Year | Severe-injury reports | Change vs prior year |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 9,818 | — |
| 2016 | 10,084 | +266 (+2.7%) |
| 2017 | 10,445 | +361 (+3.6%) |
| 2018 | 11,156 | +711 (+6.8%) |
| 2019 | 11,071 | −85 (−0.8%) |
| 2020 | 8,915 | −2,156 (−19.5%) |
| 2021 | 8,703 | −212 (−2.4%) |
| 2022 | 9,110 | +407 (+4.7%) |
| 2023 | 8,943 | −167 (−1.8%) |
| 2024 | 9,034 | +91 (+1.0%) |
| 2025 | 8,034 | partial (through Oct 31) |
Method & source
Per-year counts are derived from live cumulative queries against the Safety Incidents index of the federal OSHA Severe Injury Report archive (?from=YYYY-01-01&to=YYYY-12-31 on the search page). 2025 is partial: the archive currently extends through 2025-10-31. A falling count reflects reported severe injuries and can be influenced by workforce size and reporting behavior as well as underlying safety; it is not by itself proof of safer or more dangerous workplaces.