5 states with the most severe injuries submitted to OSHA

Between 2015 and 2024, there were 91,153 severe injuries reported to OSHA. After analyzing the data, we found the 5 states who have submitted the most severe injuries in the past decade. Did your state make the list? Read our report to find out!

OSHA’s severe injury definition

In January 2015, OSHA implemented a requirement for employers to report all severe workplace injuries. Any injury that meets at least one of the following criteria is considered severe:

• Loss of an eye
• Limb amputation
• Hospitalization

Between 2015 and 2024, OSHA has collected thousands of incidents in its severe injury report database.

What’s driving these rankings?

From weather and security measures to employee training and PPE use, there are many variables that influence workplace safety. That’s why context is so important when analyzing raw OSHA datasets. While Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois have the highest number of severe injuries, there are a few factors influencing those rankings.

Population density

OSHA’s dataset includes every severe injury report they receive from employers. So, when you view the raw data, it’s no surprise that population is the number one factor driving severe injury rankings.

All 5 of the top states for severe injuries (*) are within the top 10 U.S. states by population size:

1. California (39.5M)
2. Texas (29.1M)*
3. Florida (21.5M)*
4. New York (20.2M)
5. Pennsylvania (13M)*
6. Illinois (12.8M)*
7. Ohio (11.8M)*
8. Georgia (10.7M)
9. North Carolina (10.4M)
10. Michigan (10M)

One of the biggest surprises is that California, the state with the largest population by far, ranks 27^th for most severe injuries reported to OSHA. But there’s a critical piece of information missing:

Most employers in California report severe injuries to Cal/OSHA, not the federal agency.

Some exceptions to Cal/OSHA’s jurisdiction include USPS employees and contractors, U.S. government employees, employers in the maritime industry, and private sector employers at national parks, military installations, and more.

Between 2015 and 2024, 467 California-based injuries were sent to OSHA. Most of them came from unique industries like casinos, international affairs, marine cargo handling, correctional institutions, and the postal service.

Dangerous work environments

Another major factor to consider is the leading industry in each state. In Texas, for example, oil and gas is by far the most dominant sector—and it’s also notoriously dangerous, accounting for more than 1,300 hospitalizations since 2015.

In New York, finance and insurance is the biggest industry. When you compare your state to other states, make sure you’re factoring in the risk level of the top industries. Not all work environments are created equally, and some jobs come with a higher likelihood of injury to begin with.

Industry breakdown

In OSHA’s severe injury database, the worst industries for amputations are:

1. General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
2. Supermarkets and Other Grocery Retailers (except Convenience Retailers)
3. Poultry Processing
4. All Other Plastics Product Manufacturing
5. Sawmills

The worst industries for hospitalizations are:

1. General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
2. Electrical Contractors and Other Wiring Installation Contractors
3. Commercial and Institutional Building Construction
4. Supermarkets and Other Grocery Retailers (except Convenience Retailers)
5. Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations

When we look at the data by industry, the rankings change significantly. Take the most dangerous industry, General Medical and Surgical Hospitals, as an example. If you look at just those incidents by location, Texas, North Dakota, and Oklahoma have the most severe injuries. In other words, those states are more dangerous for hospital workers and contractors.

This is an important reminder that context is key when it comes to health and safety. Thankfully, OSHA’s data includes many fields you can use to better understand severe incident risks in your state. Industry, zip code, body part, and source are just some of the criteria available.

Severe injury details

When creating a strategy for injury prevention, there are some other key insights you can look for in the severe injury database.

Body parts affected

The most common body parts that get amputated in severe incidents are fingertips. In fact, fingers, thumbs, toes, and hands make up the majority of amputations regardless of state.

Other common body parts involved in serious injuries include:

• Legs
• Brain
• Hips
• Ankles
• Chest

Every company should have a safety program that reflects the dangers within their processes. So, for example, if hip injuries are common in your industry, then you should have a training module to educate employees on the ways they might sustain this type of injury. You can find the top injuries in your state/industry by filtering through the OSHA dataset.

Causes of injuries

OSHA also collects information on the source of severe workplace injuries. Among all states, machinery (unspecified) is the primary cause of amputations. Floors are the top source of hospitalization injuries. Other common sources are pallet jacks, semi, tractor-trailer, and tanker trucks, ladders, stepladders, and roofs.

Aside from Texas, where forklifts are the top cause of severe injuries, the rest of our top 5 list has “floors” listed as the primary injury source. This is mostly due to slip, trip, and fall incidents.

Preventing severe injuries

OSHA’s severe injury database is full of information that you can use to prevent injuries at your company. If your state didn’t make our most dangerous states list, that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. Filtering for your state and NAICS code (industry) and organizing the data by zip code, injury type, or primary cause is a great way to assess the risk level of your operation. You can read through the incident descriptions for ideas on safety training topics, preventive control measures, and more.

Anticipating risks and preventing incidents can be hard if you don’t have much internal data to work with. That’s why supplementing your near miss and hazard reports with OSHA’s severe injury database is a great proactive safety strategy. The more you learn about injury risks in your state and industry, the better you can protect workers onsite.