Manufacturing safety statistics show a mixed picture in the United States: private manufacturing recorded 355,800 total recordable injury and illness cases in 2023, while rates varied sharply among subsectors. The available measures cover employer-reported cases, fatal occupational injuries, and separate surveillance estimates for noise, chemical exposure and hearing outcomes.
Key Manufacturing Safety Statistics
The following highlights summarize distinct measures across U.S. manufacturing populations and the periods stated:
- In 2023, U.S. private manufacturing recorded 355,800 total recordable injury and illness cases.
- From 2022 to 2023, U.S. private manufacturing’s total recordable case rate fell from 3.2 to 2.8 per 100 full-time-equivalent workers.
- In 2023, U.S. private manufacturing recorded 326,400 nonfatal injury cases.
- In 2023, food manufacturing recorded 61,400 total injury and illness cases in the United States.
- In 2023, chemical manufacturing had 1.8 total recordable cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers in the United States.
- In 2023, veneer, plywood and engineered wood product manufacturing had a 4.6 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, machine shops had a 2.6 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities had a 3.6 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, metal coating, engraving except jewelry and silverware, and allied services had a 2.9 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, printing machinery and equipment manufacturing had a 3.6 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, metalworking machinery manufacturing had a 2.9 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, motor vehicle manufacturing had a 6.0 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, travel trailer and camper manufacturing had a 6.7 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, aerospace product and parts manufacturing had a 1.6 total recordable case rate in the United States.
- In 2023, about 38% of U.S. manufacturing workers were exposed to hazardous noise during the previous year.
- In 2023, approximately 24% of U.S. manufacturing workers were exposed to ototoxic chemicals during the previous year.
- In 2023, approximately 12% of U.S. manufacturing workers had hearing difficulty.
- In 2023, the BLS CFOI table recorded 43 fatal occupational injuries in U.S. transportation equipment manufacturing.
Contents
- Manufacturing injury totals and recent trends
- Chemical and materials manufacturing safety rates
- Metalworking and engraving safety statistics
- Machinery and equipment manufacturing injury data
- Transportation equipment manufacturing safety rates
- Noise, hearing and exposure statistics
Manufacturing Injury Totals and Recent Trends
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual release provides the broadest recent count series for U.S. private manufacturing. It counts employer-reported injuries and illnesses together in the total-recordable series, while its injury-only series excludes illnesses.
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 | Geography and unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total recordable cases | 396,800 | 355,800 | U.S. private manufacturing, cases |
| Total recordable case rate | 3.2 | 2.8 | U.S. private manufacturing, cases per 100 FTE workers |
| Nonfatal injury cases | — | 326,400 | U.S. private manufacturing, cases |
| Food manufacturing rate | 4.6 | 3.6 | U.S. private food manufacturing, cases per 100 FTE workers |
Source: BLS Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, 2023 A01 Results. The BLS series is employer-reported, and total-recordable counts include injuries and illnesses.
Manufacturing’s total-recordable rate in 2023 was 2.8 cases per 100 full-time-equivalent workers. The detailed BLS table separates this into 1.7 days-away, restricted or transfer cases and 1.1 other recordable cases; these are case-type classifications, not rates to be added across overlapping categories.
Food manufacturing remained a distinct subsector rather than a proxy for all manufacturing. Its total injury and illness rate fell from 4.6 to 3.6 cases per 100 FTE workers between 2022 and 2023, and the 2023 subsector count was 61,400 cases.
Chemical and Materials Manufacturing Safety Rates
The BLS 2023 industry table reports total recordable cases per 100 FTE workers for detailed NAICS categories. These are observed, employer-reported incidence rates, so the categories should be compared as industry measures rather than interpreted as an individual worker’s probability of injury.
| U.S. manufacturing subsector | 2023 rate per 100 FTE |
|---|---|
| Chemical manufacturing | 1.8 |
| Basic chemical manufacturing | 1.4 |
| Synthetic dye and pigment manufacturing | 2.3 |
| Other basic inorganic chemical manufacturing | 1.6 |
| Other basic organic chemical manufacturing | 1.8 |
| Ethyl alcohol manufacturing | 3.2 |
| Pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing | 1.7 |
| Paint, coating and adhesive manufacturing | 2.4 |
| Plastics material and resin manufacturing | 1.5 |
| Artificial and synthetic fibers and filaments manufacturing | 2.1 |
| Veneer, plywood and engineered wood products | 4.6 |
| Paper manufacturing | 2.4 |
Source: BLS Table 1: Incidence rates by industry and case types, 2023.
The materials group spans chemical, plastics, paper and wood-product operations with different processes and hazards. The highest listed rate in this group was 4.6 for veneer, plywood and engineered wood product manufacturing, while basic chemical manufacturing was 1.4.
Metalworking and Engraving Safety Statistics
Metalworking and engraving-related statistics are especially dependent on the exact NAICS definition. The BLS category containing coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities is broader than laser engraving alone, and the metal-coating and engraving-services category also includes coating and allied manufacturer services.
- Spring and wire product manufacturing recorded a 4.1 total recordable case rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Spring manufacturing recorded a 4.0 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Other fabricated wire product manufacturing recorded a 4.2 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Machine shops recorded a 2.6 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Precision turned product manufacturing recorded a 4.0 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Bolt, nut, screw, rivet and washer manufacturing recorded a 3.2 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Coating, engraving, heat treating and allied activities recorded a 3.6 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Metal heat treating recorded a 3.1 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
- Metal coating, engraving except jewelry and silverware, and allied services recorded a 2.9 rate per 100 FTE workers in the United States in 2023.
All figures in this section are from BLS Table 1: Incidence rates by industry and case types, 2023. They describe U.S. employer-reported total recordable cases per 100 FTE workers, not laser-machine-specific injury rates.
Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Injury Data
Machinery manufacturing rates also differ substantially by product and process. The 2023 BLS table reports lower rates for other industrial machinery than for sawmill, woodworking and paper machinery, with several categories in between.
| U.S. machinery subsector | 2023 rate per 100 FTE |
|---|---|
| Sawmill, woodworking and paper machinery | 3.9 |
| Printing machinery and equipment | 3.6 |
| Other industrial machinery | 1.8 |
| Commercial and service industry machinery | 2.1 |
| Fan, blower and air-purification equipment | 3.1 |
| Heating equipment | 3.7 |
| Metalworking machinery | 2.9 |
| Special die, tool, die set, jig and fixture | 3.7 |
| Cutting tool and machine tool accessory | 2.2 |
| Machine tool | 2.6 |
| Other general-purpose machinery | 2.6 |
Source: BLS Table 1: Incidence rates by industry and case types, 2023.
These figures are not equipment-level failure rates and do not isolate a specific factory, machine design or work task. They are industry-level employer-reported incidence rates for the named U.S. manufacturing categories.
The BLS CFOI table also recorded 23 fatal occupational injuries in U.S. machinery manufacturing in 2023. CFOI counts cover fatal occupational injuries and are not a measure of all work-related disease mortality; suppressed or nonpublishable event cells are not treated as zero.
Transportation Equipment Manufacturing Safety Rates
Transportation equipment manufacturing had some of the highest detailed rates in the supplied BLS 2023 table, but the subsectors were not uniform. Motor vehicle and recreational-vehicle categories were higher than aerospace categories in the same table.
| U.S. transportation subsector | 2023 rate per 100 FTE |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle manufacturing | 6.0 |
| Automobile and light-duty motor vehicle | 6.2 |
| Light truck and utility vehicle | 6.4 |
| Motor vehicle body and trailer | 5.5 |
| Travel trailer and camper | 6.7 |
| Motor vehicle parts | 3.0 |
| Aerospace product and parts | 1.6 |
| Aircraft manufacturing | 2.0 |
Source: BLS Table 1: Incidence rates by industry and case types, 2023.
The BLS 2023 CFOI table recorded 43 fatal occupational injuries in U.S. transportation equipment manufacturing, covering all ownerships. CFOI fatal injury counts exclude illness-related deaths unless an illness death was precipitated by an injury event.
Noise, Hearing and Exposure-Related Manufacturing Statistics
CDC/NIOSH surveillance measures address exposure and health outcomes that are separate from OSHA-recordable injury statistics. The figures below are 2023 surveillance estimates for U.S. manufacturing workers, not counts of recordable injuries.
| Measure among U.S. manufacturing workers | 2023 estimate |
|---|---|
| Hazardous-noise exposure during the previous year | About 38% |
| Ototoxic-chemical exposure during the previous year | Approximately 24% |
| Both hazardous-noise and ototoxic-chemical exposure | About 17% |
| Hearing difficulty | Approximately 12% |
| Tinnitus | About 11% |
Source: CDC/NIOSH Manufacturing Statistics: Noise and Hearing Loss.
The exposure estimates describe whether workers experienced the specified exposure during the previous year, while hearing difficulty and tinnitus are health outcomes in the cited surveillance framework. Ototoxic-chemical exposure is not equivalent to diagnosed hearing loss, and joint exposure does not establish causation.
Taken together, these measures show why manufacturing safety data should be read as several distinct systems: employer-reported injury and illness records, fatal occupational injury surveillance, and exposure or health-outcome estimates. The BLS incidence rates are cases per 100 full-time workers, not individual risk probabilities, and the detailed rows use NAICS categories that may be broader than a particular machine, product or process.