CWCI: COVID-19 Drove Recent Volatility in California Work Injury & Illness Trends

OAKLAND, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#COVID19–After surging during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of nonfatal work injuries and illnesses in California returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2024 according to a California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) review of data from the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Director’s Office of Research.

Recent results from California’s Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) show that after soaring to a historic level during the pandemic, including a 25.6 percent jump between 2021 and 2022, the number of nonfatal cases fell nearly 20 percent over two years. The SOII, administered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in cooperation with the DIR, is based on employer reports to OSHA and provides a broad measure of workplace safety across the public and private sectors. Unlike workers’ comp data, the SOII tracks employer-reported injury and illness cases resulting in days away from work, restricted duty, or job transfers (“DART” cases) or “other recordable cases” that require treatment beyond first aid or that involve a diagnosis of a significant injury or illness that must be included on employers’ OSHA incident logs.

CWCI’s review found that over the 6-year period ending in 2024, the number of reported cases fluctuated sharply, falling from 483,300 in 2019 to about 450,000 in 2020 and 2021, then jumping to 565,900 in 2022 before declining to 472,500 in 2023 and 454,100 in 2024. CWCI notes that although these changes partly reflected shifts in the California labor market and employment trends, the major fluctuations were largely driven by COVID-19 infections reported by employers as work-related illnesses. In 2022, for example, a surge in the number of reported COVID-19 cases pushed California’s nonfatal injury and illness rate to 4.2 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers (FTEs), up from 3.6 in 2019. That turned out to be the peak year for work injury and illness reports, and as the number of COVID-19 cases declined, the rate fell to 3.5 in 2023 and 3.3 in 2024. Notably, public sector workers experienced the largest pandemic-related increases in reported work injuries and illnesses. From 2019 to 2022, the injury and illness rate per 100 FTEs in the private sector rose from 3.2 to 3.6, while in the local government sector it jumped from 6.7 to 9.0, and among state workers it nearly doubled from 4.3 to 8.3. Rates across all sectors peaked in 2022 before falling back below or near pre-pandemic levels by 2024.

The mix of reported cases also shifted during the pandemic. DART cases accounted for 58.9 percent of all cases in 2019, but climbed to 68.7 percent by 2022, reflecting a higher share of injuries and illnesses resulting in lost work time or job restrictions. By 2024, DART cases had declined to 62.0 percent of all reported injuries and illnesses, indicating a shift back toward the other recordable cases.

Overall, the volatility in California’s injury and illness trends from 2019 to 2024 was driven almost entirely by changes in the number of occupational illness reports. Employers reported just 24,800 occupational illness cases in 2019, but that number soared to 162,600 in 2022 before dropping to 39,500 in 2024. Bolstering the conclusion that COVID-19 drove most of this volatility, the SOII data show that reports involving respiratory conditions surged from 1,800 in 2019 to 138,400 in 2022, representing 85 percent of all occupational illnesses that year. By 2024, respiratory illnesses had fallen to 36 percent of occupational illness cases, and the respiratory illness rate dropped from 103.6 cases per 10,000 FTEs in 2022 to 10.3 in 2024.

CWCI has published its analysis in Bulletin 26-03, which is available to its members and subscribers under the Communications tab here. Detailed findings and data tables from the 2024 SOII are on the DIR website, here.

Contacts

Bob Young
(510) 251-9470