Worker safety is a top concern, but are worker injuries really on the decline, or are fewer workers reporting their injuries?
There’s no doubt manufacturers are under a lot of pressure. And it’s building every day.
Production and new orders are both rapidly expanding even as manufacturing employment contracts. More work with fewer workers makes everything a lot more stressful.
Overexertion is a significant cause of worker injuries in the manufacturing space, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. More than a third of injuries sustained in manufacturing come from workers who push themselves too hard. About 40% of worker injuries occur when workers are struck by objects or become trapped in machinery. Slips and falls account for about 16% to 19% of injuries.
And although fatalities have remained at around 350 to 400 per year, there’s a troubling trend when it comes to reporting injuries and near-misses, according to environmental, health and safety leaders.
Even as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employer-reported workplace injuries have declined, research from Benchmark Gensuite suggests that injuries are happening at a higher frequency. About 45% of environmental, health and safety leaders reported that injury frequency increased in their organization during 2025, a staggering 150% jump from 2024 when just 18% said injury frequency rose.
And injury severity is also on the rise with 39% reporting that injury severity is up. Only 18% of respondents said they saw a decline in injuries in their organization.
What’s behind those injuries? Increased demand. EHS leaders reported 44% of the injuries they’d seen in their facilities occurred due to increased demand, up from 25% the previous year.
Why aren’t workers reporting injuries?
Clearly, there’s a discrepancy here. If the BLS says reported injuries are down, why are those responsible for worker safety on the plant floor seeing a rise?
Well, because workers aren’t reporting their injuries. About 90% of EHS leaders said workplace incidents, hazards and near-misses go unreported, up from 79% in 2024.
The number-one reason workers don’t report their injuries is linked to time-consuming processes, with 49% saying there are obstacles and challenges related to their company’s reporting system. Another 44% say their company relies on manual reporting processes like paper, email or verbal reporting. And 38% are worried reporting their injuries could lead to backlash.
Around 45% of EHS leaders think a quarter of workers refuse to report their injuries while 17% of those leaders think the number is closer to half.
How to avoid falling into the safety gap
What is the solution to worker injuries in the manufacturing sector?
The answer might be technology, according to Benchmark Gensuite.
Get ahead of it.
Artificial intelligence is being used to predict all sorts of outcomes, and it can predict the risk factors associated with certain jobs so workers can protect themselves and use the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE).
“For plant engineers and managers, the job is bigger than just optimizing processes and keeping the machines running. Woven into those technical duties is an unwritten promise: a profound responsibility for human life and for keeping the whole operation steady.” Andrea Carlson, Safety Manager, ACS
Prioritize people.
Burnout is a real health hazard. Organizations now must foster a trust-based approach to worker safety. As more manufacturing workers struggle under production demands, plant managers should reconfigure their health and wellbeing policies. Injured workers, after all, serve no one well.
Automation is your friend.
Is a task dangerous? Consider automating it.
Can your organization afford a robot to handle a task that has a high risk of injuring a human worker? It might be worth the initial outlay. And some tasks can be completed with the use of agentic or generative AI, removing a worker from the mix altogether.
What do you think? How can organizations keep their workers safe while keeping an eye on the bottom line?
