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Rate and number of workplace injuries and illnesses in retail trade increased in 2018

December 02, 2019

Retail trade was the only one of 19 private industries in which the rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses rose in 2018. The 2018 rate was 3.5 cases per 100 full-time workers, up from 3.3 in 2017. This was the first statistically significant increase in the rate for retail trade since comparable data for the industry began in 2003.

 Rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in private retail trade, 2003–18
Year Rate

2003

5.3

2004

5.3

2005

5.0

2006

4.9

2007

4.8

2008

4.4

2009

4.2

2010

4.1

2011

3.9

2012

4.0

2013

3.8

2014

3.6

2015

3.5

2016

3.3

2017

3.3

2018

3.5

The number of injuries and illnesses in retail trade also increased in 2018, rising 4 percent. Of the 409,900 injuries and illnesses in retail trade in 2018, 126,850 (31 percent) involved the worker missing at least one day away from work.

Among the cases involving days away from work in retail trade, more than a third (42,790) were from overexertion and bodily reaction. Another 38,940 were from contact with objects and equipment, and 34,190 were from falls, slips, or trips.

Number of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses involving days away from work in private retail trade, by event or exposure, 2018
Event or exposure Number of injuries or illnesses

Overexertion and bodily reaction

42,790

Contact with object, equipment

38,940

Falls, slips, trips

34,190

Transportation incidents

3,920

Exposure to harmful substances or environments

3,910

Violence and other injuries by persons or animal

2,490

Fires, explosions

160

All other

460

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To learn more, see “Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses — 2018.”

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Rate and number of workplace injuries and illnesses in retail trade increased in 2018 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/rate-and-number-of-workplace-injuries-and-illnesses-in-retail-trade-increased-in-2018.htm (visited December 07, 2024).

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