California saw a 4% decline in employer-reported workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, following a sharp 17% drop in 2023.

The reduction mirrors national trends, where private industry employers reported 2.5 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024, a 3.1% decrease and the lowest total recorded since 2003. Much of the recent decline appears tied to the winding down of the COVID-19 pandemic. Illness cases dropped significantly, driven by a steep reduction in respiratory illnesses. While these numbers suggest improvement on paper, they do not tell the full story of workplace risk across California’s diverse industries.

Even with the overall decline, serious injuries requiring time away from work remain a significant reality for workers. Over the 2023-2024 period, there were 1.8 million cases nationwide involving days away from work, representing the majority of serious injury cases. The median number of days away from work was eight, and cases involving job transfer or restriction carried a median of 15 days. Overexertion, repetitive motion and bodily reaction injuries accounted for the largest share of cases, followed closely by contact incidents. The vast majority of harmful substance exposure cases required at least one day away from work. 

Those national trends, however, look different when viewed through the lens of California’s own workplace safety data. The California Department of Industrial Relations report documented work injuries across the state in 2024, including over 109,000 governmental worker injuries and over 340,000 private-industry injuries. Comparing table 2 from 2023 to table 2 from 2024 shows year-to-year increases in the number of injuries in wholesale trade, transit and ground passenger transportation, waste management and remediation services, and construction industries. The study reviewed all industries in California, from construction and mining to information technology and insurance companies, reinforcing that workplace hazards remain embedded across diverse sectors of the state's economy. The findings also come at a time when workplace safety enforcement continues to face significant resource and political challenges. 

A drop in the number of respiratory illness cases does not necessarily mean safer workplaces overall, particularly when overexertion, repetitive motion and harmful substance exposures continue to drive significant numbers of serious injuries. In California, rising injury rates in sectors such as transportation and construction signal emerging risk areas that may translate into an increased number of claims and an increase in the severity of those claims. As lackluster enforcement remains commonplace and injury patterns shift, applicants’ attorneys’ role in holding employers accountable and ensuring injured workers receive full access to benefits remains as critical as ever.

This opinion by the California Applicants' Attorneys Association communications team is republished, with permission, from the CAAA website.