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Employer-reported respiratory illnesses increase nearly 4,000 percent in 2020
November 05, 2021
There were 2.7 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private industry employers in 2020, down from 2.8 million in 2019, a decrease of 5.7 percent.
Total reported injury and illness case counts, private industry, 2019–20
Year
Total reported cases
Injuries
Illnesses
2019
2,814,000
2,686,800
127,200
2020
2,654,700
2,110,100
544,600
The decline was due to a drop in injury cases, with private industry employers reporting 2.1 million nonfatal injuries in 2020, down from 2.7 million in 2019. At the same time, total reported illness cases more than quadrupled to 544,600 cases, up from 127,200 in 2019. In 2020, the incidence rate of total recordable cases in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers.
Counts of cases of all illnesses and respiratory illnesses, private industry, 2016–20
Year
All illnesses
Respiratory illnesses
2016
137,500
11,000
2017
126,400
10,400
2018
126,800
12,100
2019
127,200
10,800
2020
544,600
428,700
The increase in illness cases was driven by a nearly 4,000-percent increase in employer-reported respiratory illness cases in 2020 at 428,700, up from 10,800 in 2019. The rate of illness cases increased from 12.4 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2019 to 55.9 cases in 2020. The respiratory illness rate rose from 1.1 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2019 to 44.0 cases in 2020.
United States Department of Labor
