Severe Injuries
Since 2015, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has required employers under its jurisdiction to report all severe work-related injuries, defined as an amputation, in-patient hospitalization, or loss of an eye (OSHA). These reports contain detailed data about the injuries, including information on the type of injury, source of injury, and body part affected; they also include narratives that describe the circumstances of the injury. Although these reports only cover workers under federal OSHA jurisdiction, since many states have state-run occupational health and safety programs, this data represents an extensive source of information on the more severe injuries construction workers experience.
From 2015 to 2023, there have been more than 15,000 severe injuries in construction (as seen below). This interactive dashboard characterizes these injuries to help reveal patterns. The map includes detailed injury narratives when a point is clicked on a narrative will open, while the other charts show the most common sources (e.g., factor responsible for the injury), event/exposure of injury, and detailed subsectors affected. The Year and Major subsector filter(s) update both the charts and the bolded and underlined key findings.
Following the interactive dashboard, you will find more information on the data source, definitions, chart notes, a downloadable data file, and recommended citation. This interactive data dashboard corresponds to a chapter in the upcoming PDF version of the Construction Chart Book-7th edition, which will be published this summer. Data will be updated annually as available. If you have any questions or comments, please email [email protected].
About the Data
Data are downloaded from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) severe injury reports.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Severe Injury Reports, 01/01/2015—04/30/2024. https://www.osha.gov/severeinjury
- Due to issues with latitudes and longitudes provided in the OSHA Severe Injury reports, CPWR Data Center’s maps use reported zip codes to produce latitudes and longitudes. Missing zip codes are generated based on available information. Latitudes and longitudes are separated (e.g., jittered) to prevent multiple values from occupying the same location on the map.
Definitions
- Detailed subsector– 4 to 6-digit NAICS codes within construction. Severe injury data shows the 6-digit NAICS codes.
- Event/Exposure – the manner in which the injury or illness was produced or inflicted, such as a fall, heat-related illness, etc. Based on the 2012 Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS).
- Severe injury – An injury resulting in amputation of limb, loss of eye, or hospitalization.
- Source – The objects, substances, equipment, and other factors that were responsible for the injury or illness incurred by the worker, such as a ladder, cutting hand tools, etc. Based on the 2012 Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS).