The nearly 3.0 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2014 occurred at a rate of 3.2 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, according to estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (See tables 1 and 2.) The rate reported for 2014 continues a pattern of declines that, with the exception of 2012, occurred annually for the last 12 years.

Private industry employers reported nearly 54,000 fewer nonfatal injury and illness cases in 2014 compared to a year earlier. Because of this decline combined with an increase in reported hours worked, the total recordable cases (TRC) incidence rate fell 0.1 cases per 100 full-time workers. The fall in the TRC rate was driven by a decline in the rate of other recordable cases, as rates for both cases involving days away from work (DAFW) and for cases of job transfer or restriction only (DJTR) were unchanged in 2014.

Among all private industry sectors, the rate of reported injuries and illnesses declined in 2014 only among the retail trade, health care and social assistance, and accommodation and food services sectors. Manufacturing continued a 17-year trend as the only private industry sector in which the rate of DJTR cases exceeded the rate of DAFW cases. The rates for these two case types were unchanged from a year earlier at 1.2 cases and 1.0 case per 100 full-time workers, respectively.