New federal analysis says 35.2% of U.S. workplace injuries are serious

SDS Manager’s analysis of the latest complete OSHA injury data finds that more than one in three recordable workplace injuries lead to days away from work or death. Transportation and warehousing posts the highest serious-injury share among major industries, while educational services posts the lowest.

Why it matters: - SDS Manager’s new benchmark suggests injury counts alone can understate workplace risk. - The company says safety leaders should track severity, not just volume, because a falling injury count can still mask a rising share of serious cases. - The analysis arrives as 2024 remains the current benchmark for U.S. workplace injury trends that safety teams are using in 2026 planning.

What happened: - SDS Manager released an analysis on July 23, 2026, based on the most recent complete federal workplace injury data available from OSHA. - The dataset covers roughly 1.49 million recordable injuries. - SDS Manager found that 35.2% of those injuries resulted in days away from work or death. - The remaining cases were resolved with first aid or light duty. - SDS Manager introduced a new measure called the Serious Injury Share, or SIS, to show the percentage of recordable injuries that are severe rather than minor.

The details: - Transportation and warehousing had the highest Serious Injury Share among major industries at 46.1%. - Educational services had the lowest share at 25.1%. - Wholesale trade recorded a Serious Injury Share of 39.6%. - Public administration recorded a Serious Injury Share of 39.1%. - Administrative and waste services recorded a Serious Injury Share of 37.8%. - The national average across all industries was 35.2%. - The median days-away case kept a worker off the job for nine days. - The average recovery stretched to about 36 days when longer recoveries were included. - OSHA released the dataset in 2025, and it reflects employer filings due through early 2026. - Complete 2025 data will not be finalized until 2027. - SDS Manager points readers to the full analysis and industry breakdown.

Between the lines: - The new SIS benchmark gives safety teams a second lens on risk, beyond total incident counts. - A high serious-injury share can indicate that an operation’s hazards are producing fewer but more disruptive injuries. - Industries with elevated shares may face longer operational disruption, higher recovery burden and more complex return-to-work planning. - The finding also suggests that leaders should connect every serious injury to a structured investigation and verified fix.

What's next: - Safety teams are likely to use SIS alongside traditional injury rates as they set 2026 priorities. - Employers can use the benchmark to compare their own serious-injury mix against industry peers. - SDS Manager says organizations should track SIS over time and investigate serious cases to prevent repeat events.

The bottom line: - More than one-third of U.S. recordable workplace injuries are serious, and the safest and most dangerous industries are nearly two-to-one apart on that measure.