Printing Industry Workplace Injury and Illness Rates Decline

Workplace injury and illness rates for manufacturing facilities declined once again in 2020.  This is a positive trend that has been occurring over the past decade. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), private industry employers reported 2.7 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2020, down from 2.8 million in 2019, a decrease of 5.7 percent. In 2020, the incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) in private industry was 2.7 cases per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers.

The numbers would have been even lower, except infections from COVID-19 caused an increase in reported illnesses. Injury cases decreased 22 percent. At the same time, total reported illness cases more than quadrupled driven by a nearly 4,000 percent increase in employer reported respiratory illness cases in 2020.

Injury and illness rates for printing and publishing also dropped and remained lower than those for manufacturing. Table 1 provides more detailed information on injury and illness rates for the entire printing and related support activities (NAICS 323) as compared to manufacturing. Table 2 provides information on total injuries and illnesses for the entire printing and related support activities.

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

If you are interested in previous years' data, please see PRINTING United Alliance’s web page at Business Excellence-EHS. For a copy of the BLS report, Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, visit U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.