Minnesota's workplace injury, illness rate at all-time low

Minnesota's estimated workplace injury and illness rate decreased from 2022 to 2023. According to the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, the state had an estimated 2.9 OSHA-recordable, nonfatal, workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time-equivalent (FTE) workers in 2023; the estimated rate for 2022 was 3.8 cases per 100 FTE workers.

The survey estimated Minnesota had 65,100 workers with OSHA-recordable, nonfatal, workplace injuries and illnesses in 2023, compared to 85,400 estimated cases for 2022. There were 5,200 illnesses in 2023 and, of these, 3,000 were respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 cases. In 2022, there were 19,100 illnesses.

In 2023, Minnesota's employment covered by the survey was approximately 2.85 million workers, compared to 2.79 million workers in 2022.

"These survey results are a good reminder about how important it is for workplaces to focus attention each day to safety and health programs that improve safety and health outcomes for workers, reduce preventable work-related injuries and illnesses, and ensure more workers go home safe and healthy at the end of their work shift," said Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) Commissioner Nicole Blissenbach.

Nationally, an estimated 3,200,200 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported in private- and public-sector workplaces for 2023, resulting in a rate of 2.7 cases per 100 FTE workers. 

Other results from the Minnesota survey

The industries with the highest total injury and illness rate were:  state hospitals (17.7 cases per 100 FTE workers); private industry couriers and messengers (13.9); and state police protection (13.1).

Of the estimated 65,100 total recordable cases, 34,800 involved days away from work, job transfer or restriction (DART cases), at a rate of 1.5 cases per 100 FTE workers. An estimated 22,800 workers (65% of DART cases) had at least one day away from work after the day of injury, resulting in 1.0 cases per 100 FTE workers. In 2022, this rate was 1.7.

An estimated 56,000 injury and illness cases were reported in the private sector, accounting for 86% of all recordable cases in 2023. Eighty-five percent of the estimated 9,100 injury and illness cases in the public sector were in local government.

Case and demographic data for 2023 and 2024 will be released in November 2025. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) switched to biennial release of case and demographic data in 2021, with the first set of biennial estimates for 2021 and 2022 being released in November 2023.

State agencies and BLS compile SOII data, which 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 2023 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.

• View the Minnesota data tables on the DLI website

• View the national data tables on the BLS website

Media contact:  James Honerman at james.honerman@state.mn.us or 651-284-5313