U.S. Department of Labor’s Severe Injury Report Dashboard

On September 4, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) launched its online Severe Injury Report dashboard, a tool designed for users to search the DOL’s Severe Injury Report database and view trends related to workplace injuries. OSHA defines a severe injury as “an amputation, in-patient hospitalization, or loss of an eye.” The dashboard covers injury data from 2015 to 2023. The data can be broken down by NAICS code, establishment name, state, year, body part, source, nature, and events/exposure and will be regularly updated. The database does not include data from states with their own state workplace safety and health plans.

This is the first time these reports will be made publicly available, and it raises several concerns. For example, the database provides severe injury data without providing much context, enabling others to create a false or misleading picture of an employer’s workplace safety practices and record. The information will also likely be used by litigants, insurance companies, regulators and others for any number of reasons.

That said, we do believe the dashboard will be useful for companies and associations when they want to use injury data in comments responding to OSHA rulemakings. For example, through some initial searches using the tool, we found that, in 2023, many severe injuries in the “couriers and express delivery services” sector were due to “exposure to environmental heat.” As OSHA has recently issued its proposed Heat Injury and Illness rulemaking, having access to data on the number, origin, and details of industry injuries at the hands of heat will be valuable.