Minnesota workplace injury and illness rate decreases

Minnesota's estimated workplace injury and illness rate for 2021 decreased from that of 2020. According to the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, the state had an estimated 3.4 OSHA-recordable, nonfatal, workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time-equivalent (FTE) workers in 2021; the estimated rate for 2020 was 3.5 cases per 100 FTE workers.

The survey estimated Minnesota had 73,800 workers with OSHA-recordable, nonfatal, workplace injuries and illnesses in 2021, compared to 76,700 estimated cases for 2020. There were 13,500 illnesses in 2021 and, of these, 11,300 were respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 cases. In 2020, there were 14,300 COVID-19 cases.

In 2021, Minnesota’s employment covered by the survey was approximately 2.69 million workers. In 2020, employment covered by the survey was 2.78 million workers.

"We are encouraged by these results," said Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) Temporary Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach. "While this is good news overall, there is still much work to do to improve workplace safety and health to ensure more workers go home safe and healthy each night." 

Nationally, an estimated 3,250,700 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported in private- and public-sector workplaces for 2021, resulting in a rate of 2.9 cases per 100 FTE workers.

Other results from the Minnesota survey

The industries with the highest total injury and illnesses rate were:  local government nursing and residential care facilities (30.6 cases per 100 FTE workers); private industry hospitals (9.4); private industry couriers and messengers (9.4); and state government nursing and residential care facilities (9.2).

An estimated 33,300 injured workers had one or more days away from work after the day of injury, resulting in 1.5 cases per 100 FTE workers in Minnesota. In 2020, this rate was 1.6 cases per 100 FTE workers in Minnesota.

Starting with 2021 injuries and illnesses, the U.S.  Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) will be releasing case and demographic results on a biennial basis. Therefore, 2021 case and demographic data will be combined with 2022 data and published in November 2023.

State agencies and BLS compile the survey data. This is the primary source of workplace injury and illness statistics at the state and national levels. DLI collects injury and illness records from randomly sampled Minnesota establishments in the private- and public-sectors (excluding federal agencies). Approximately 3,900 establishments provided usable responses for the 2021 survey.

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry appreciates the thousands of employers that fulfilled their mandate to make the survey a success and enabled the publication of injury and illness rates.

Minnesota data tables are available on the DLI website at dli.mn.gov/our-areas-service/research-and-statistics/survey-occupational-injuries-and-illnesses. National data tables are available on the BLS website at bls.gov/iif/oshsum.htm and bls.gov/iif/oshcdnew.htm.