These occupational health statistics bring together the latest official figures on work-related injuries, ill health, deaths and costs in the United States, Great Britain, the European Union and the world. Every number links to the official page that publishes it (the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, NIOSH, HSE, Eurostat, EU-OSHA, the ILO and WHO), with its year, and estimates are labeled as estimates.

Key takeaways

  • US private industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024 (BLS, 2026).
  • 5,070 workers died from work-related injuries in the US in 2024, one every 104 minutes (BLS, 2026).
  • An estimated 1.9 million workers in Great Britain were suffering from work-related ill health in 2024/25 (HSE, 2025).
  • Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for an estimated 52% of work-related ill health in Great Britain in 2024/25 (HSE, 2025).
  • Workplace injury and new cases of work-related ill health cost Great Britain an estimated £22.9 billion in 2023/24 (HSE, 2025).
  • An estimated 40.1 million working days were lost to work-related ill health and workplace non-fatal injury in Great Britain in 2024/25 (HSE, 2025).
  • 3,367 people died in accidents at work in the EU in 2024 (Eurostat, 2026).
  • 10.3% of people aged 15 to 64 in the EU who work or had worked reported a work-related health problem in 2020 (Eurostat, 2021).
  • More than 100,000 people in the EU die of work-related cancer every year, the figure cited by EU-OSHA (EU-OSHA, 2025).
  • An estimated 2.93 million workers worldwide died from work-related factors in 2019, 2.6 million of them from work-related diseases (ILO, 2023).
  • Non-communicable diseases caused 81% of work-related deaths worldwide in 2016, an estimate (WHO and ILO, 2021).
  • About 27 million US workers are exposed to hazardous noise at work each year, an estimate (NIOSH).
  • 31% of employers in Great Britain provide occupational health or vocational rehabilitation services (DWP, 2025).
  • 62% of US civilian workers had access to an employee assistance program in March 2026 (BLS, 2026).

This page is reviewed monthly and updated whenever a publisher releases a new edition. Last updated: October 29, 2026.

How many workers are injured at work each year?

US private industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, a rate of 2.3 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers, according to the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses released on January 22, 2026. BLS publishes case details over two years: in 2023 and 2024 combined, private industry recorded 1.8 million cases involving days away from work. The figures cover private industry only.

Great Britain. An estimated 680,000 working people sustained an injury at work in 2024/25, according to the LFS, a household survey that HSE uses for its estimates. Employers reported 59,219 non-fatal injuries to employees under RIDDOR, the reporting regulations, in the same year.

European Union. There were 2.78 million non-fatal accidents at work in the EU in 2024 that led to at least 4 calendar days of absence, or 1,359 per 100,000 employed people, according to Eurostat. Manufacturing accounted for 18.3% of them.

World. The ILO estimates that over 395 million workers sustained a non-fatal work injury in 2019, in its report A call for safer and healthier working environments (2023).

An estimated 2.93 million workers worldwide died as a result of work-related factors in 2019: 2.6 million from work-related diseases and 330,000 from work accidents, according to the ILO. Most work-related deaths are caused by disease, not by accidents.

World, WHO and ILO joint estimates. The WHO and ILO joint estimates, published in 2021, put work-related deaths at 1.9 million in 2016, with occupational injuries causing 19% of them (360,000 deaths). The two global estimates use different methods and years, so we recommend not adding them together or reading them as a trend.

United States. 5,070 fatal work injuries were recorded in 2024, a rate of 3.3 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, according to the BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. Transportation incidents were the most frequent fatal event, with 1,937 deaths, or 38.2% of the total.

Great Britain. 126 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2025/26, a provisional figure that HSE will finalize in July 2027.

European Union. 3,367 fatal accidents at work were recorded in the EU in 2024, or 1.65 per 100,000 employed people, and close to a quarter of them (23.0%) took place in construction, according to Eurostat. That is a ratio of 826 non-fatal accidents for every fatal one.

An estimated 1.9 million workers in Great Britain were suffering from work-related ill health, new or long-standing, in 2024/25, according to HSE. Of these, 730,000 were new cases that year, according to HSE’s summary statistics. Both are LFS estimates based on what workers report.

European Union. 10.3% of people aged 15 to 64 in the EU who work or had worked reported having had a work-related health problem during the previous year in 2020, according to Eurostat.

United States. US private industry employers recorded 148,000 illness cases in 2024, down 26.0% from the year before, according to the BLS. This counts cases recorded by employers, which is a different measure from the self-reported ill health that HSE and Eurostat collect. OSHA’s rules on what those records must contain and who may see them are covered in OSHA employee medical records.

Stress, depression or anxiety is the largest category of work-related ill health in Great Britain: an estimated 964,000 workers, 52% of all cases, in 2024/25, according to HSE’s summary statistics. Musculoskeletal disorders come second, with an estimated 511,000 workers, or 27%.

European Union. Bone, joint or muscle problems were the most common work-related health problem in 2020, affecting 6.0% of people aged 15 to 64 who work or had worked, according to Eurostat. Time pressure or work overload was the risk factor for mental well-being most often reported, by 19.5% of employed people.

World. The diseases behind the most work-related deaths in 2016 were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (450,000 deaths), stroke (400,000) and ischemic heart disease (350,000), according to the WHO and ILO. Exposure to long working hours was the key risk factor, linked to approximately 750,000 deaths. For 2019, the ILO reports that circulatory diseases, malignant neoplasms (cancers) and respiratory diseases together caused almost three-quarters of work-related deaths.

Diseases from past exposure. In Great Britain, an estimated 11,000 lung disease deaths each year are linked to past exposure at work (HSE), and there were 2,146 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures in 2024 (HSE). In the EU, EU-OSHA reports that almost 47 million of the 98.5 million workers represented in its survey of six member states (Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Hungary and Finland) may have been exposed to at least one cancer risk factor in their last working week.

Because these deaths are linked to exposures years earlier, exposure and medical records are kept for decades. Our guide to how long to keep occupational health records sets out the retention periods in the US, Great Britain and the EU.

How common is occupational hearing loss and noise exposure?

About 27 million US workers are exposed to hazardous noise at work each year, and occupational hearing loss is one of the most common work-related illnesses, according to NIOSH. NIOSH also estimates that about 1 in 9 people in the US working population has hearing difficulty, and that approximately 22 million workers are exposed to ototoxic chemicals, substances that can damage hearing, each year.

Among noise-exposed workers. 13% of noise-exposed US workers had some hearing impairment, among workers whose hearing tests from 2003 to 2012 NIOSH analyzed (MMWR, 2016).

Great Britain. An estimated 15,000 workers each year have hearing problems caused or made worse by work, averaged over 2022/23 to 2024/25, according to HSE. The same page shows 50 new cases of occupational deafness assessed for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in 2024. Benefit cases count assessed claims, a different measure from the survey estimate.

Workplace injury and new cases of work-related ill health cost Great Britain an estimated £22.9 billion in 2023/24, excluding long-latency illness such as cancer, of which £16.4 billion came from ill health and £6.5 billion from injury, according to HSE and its summary statistics. Individuals bore £13.4 billion of these costs and the government £5.2 billion. In working time, an estimated 35.7 million days were lost to work-related ill health and 4.4 million to workplace injury in 2024/25 (HSE).

United States. The societal cost of work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses was estimated at $250 billion in 2007, a peer-reviewed estimate (Leigh, Milbank Quarterly, 2011) that NIOSH cites. NIOSH still cites it on a page dated April 24, 2026.

European Union. EU-OSHA estimates the societal cost of work-related injuries and illnesses at 3.3% of the EU’s GDP. The estimate covers the EU-28, including the UK, and comes from an international comparison of the cost of work-related accidents and illnesses presented in 2017.

World. The ILO estimated in 2017 that work-related illnesses and injuries represent 3.94% of global GDP a year, or $2.99 trillion. Both the EU and world figures are modeled estimates, not measured spending.

What do employers spend on occupational health?

None of the publishers on this page reports what employers spend on occupational health in total. The closest official figures measure the costs employers bear and the services they provide. In Great Britain, employers bore £4.3 billion of the costs of workplace injury and work-related ill health in 2023/24 (HSE).

Great Britain, provision. 31% of employers with at least 2 staff said they provide occupational health or vocational rehabilitation services, in the DWP Employer Survey carried out in February to April 2024 and published on May 16, 2025. Measured from the worker side, around half (52%) of workers in Great Britain, employees and self-employed, had access to occupational health services through their employer or self-employed role, in a DWP survey carried out from November 2024 to March 2025.

United States. In March 2026, 62% of US civilian workers had access to employee assistance programs and 50% had access to wellness programs, according to the BLS National Compensation Survey.

European Union. Occupational health doctors are the health and safety service establishments use most, at 75%, according to ESENER 2024, EU-OSHA’s survey of establishments in Europe.

Why the figures differ between sources

Each dataset counts something different, so figures from two countries are rarely comparable line by line.

Dataset Publisher What it counts Latest edition used
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses BLS (US) Injuries and illnesses recorded by private industry employers 2024, released January 22, 2026
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries BLS (US) Fatal work injuries 2024, released February 19, 2026
LFS estimates HSE (Great Britain) Ill health and injury reported by workers in a household survey 2024/25
RIDDOR HSE (Great Britain) Injuries and deaths reported by employers Non-fatal: 2024/25; fatal: 2025/26, provisional
ESAW Eurostat (EU) Accidents with at least 4 calendar days of absence, and fatal accidents 2024
LFS ad hoc module Eurostat (EU) Work-related health problems reported by workers 2020
Global estimates ILO; WHO and ILO Modeled deaths and injuries from work-related factors 2019 (ILO); 2016 (WHO and ILO)

New editions are scheduled for the coming weeks: BLS injury and illness data for 2025 on November 18, 2026 and fatal injury data for 2025 on December 16, 2026 (BLS), and HSE’s 2025/26 annual statistics on November 19, 2026. This page will be updated when each is out.

How to cite this page

Cite as: MyC, “Occupational health statistics 2026: injuries and ill health,” updated October 29, 2026, https://www.myc.care/blog/occupational-health-statistics. When quoting a single figure, cite its original publisher too, linked next to each number above.

Where MyC fits

National statistics show the scale; an employer’s own records show where to act. MyC gives each worker a single employee health record, with full access for medical teams and anonymized trends for HSE, HR and executives, across every site on one platform. Health surveillance is scheduled per worker from their exposure group, and results from connected audiometers and spirometers land straight in the record and can be compared against the worker’s own baseline, so a shift in hearing or lung function shows at the next exam. To see what site-level figures look like, open the free HSE health dashboard and the other occupational health dashboards, built on synthetic data, or book a demo.

Questions

It depends on the country and on how ill health is measured. In Great Britain, stress, depression or anxiety is the largest category in HSE’s survey of workers, followed by musculoskeletal disorders. In the US, NIOSH describes occupational hearing loss as one of the most common work-related illnesses.

Do more workers die from occupational disease or from accidents?

From disease, by a wide margin. Both the ILO and the WHO and ILO joint estimates attribute the large majority of work-related deaths to diseases such as respiratory and circulatory diseases and cancers, rather than to injuries.

Can US, British and EU workplace injury statistics be compared?

Only with care. The BLS injury survey covers private industry employers, HSE’s estimates come from a household survey and from employer reports, and Eurostat counts accidents with at least 4 days of absence. When comparing countries, we recommend quoting rates per worker rather than raw counts, with each source’s definition.

How often are occupational health statistics published?

Each publisher sets its own schedule; the next releases are listed in the section on why the figures differ. This page is reviewed monthly and updated when a publisher releases a new edition.

Sources

  1. Employer-reported workplace injuries and illnesses, 2024 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 22, 2026)
  2. National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2024 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 19, 2026)
  3. Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities: release schedule (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  4. Noise and occupational hearing loss: about (CDC, NIOSH)
  5. Hearing impairment among noise-exposed workers, United States, 2003 to 2012 (CDC, MMWR, April 22, 2016)
  6. Workers Memorial Day (CDC, NIOSH)
  7. Percentage of civilian workers with access to quality-of-life benefits, March 2026 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  8. Health and safety statistics: key figures for Great Britain (HSE)
  9. Work-related ill health and occupational disease in Great Britain (HSE)
  10. Health and safety at work: summary statistics for Great Britain 2025 (HSE)
  11. Work-related fatal injuries in Great Britain (HSE)
  12. Costs to Britain of workplace injuries and work-related ill health (HSE)
  13. Noise induced hearing loss in Great Britain (HSE)
  14. Health and safety statistics 2025 to 2026: annual release (GOV.UK release calendar)
  15. DWP Employer Survey 2024: summary (Department for Work and Pensions, May 16, 2025)
  16. Survey of employees and self-employed workers 2024 to 2025 (Department for Work and Pensions)
  17. Accidents at work statistics (Eurostat, Statistics Explained)
  18. Self-reported work-related health problems and risk factors: key statistics (Eurostat, Statistics Explained)
  19. Nearly half of EU workers probably exposed to cancer risk factors (EU-OSHA, December 18, 2025)
  20. Good OSH is good for business (EU-OSHA)
  21. International comparison of the cost of work-related accidents and illnesses (EU-OSHA, 2017)
  22. ESENER 2024: first findings (EU-OSHA)
  23. A call for safer and healthier working environments (International Labour Organization, 2023)
  24. WHO/ILO: almost 2 million people die from work-related causes each year (WHO, September 17, 2021)
  25. ILO head calls for a global coalition on safety and health at work (International Labour Organization, September 4, 2017)

Written by Lisa Bardet, VP Marketing at MyC. Every factual claim in this article is checked against primary sources, such as regulations, regulators and peer-reviewed studies, in three passes before publication, and the sources are listed above.

This article is general information for employers and occupational health teams. It is not legal or medical advice for a specific situation.