A total of 4.3 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported in private industry workplaces during 2004, down from 4.4 million in 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.

These cases occurred at a rate of 4.8 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, a decline from the rate of 5.0 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers in 2003. This drop in the injury rate resulted from a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of cases reported combined with a 1.6 percent increase in the number of hours worked.

In private industry in 2004, rates for injuries and illnesses combined ranged from 1.9 cases per 100 workers for small establishments (those employing 1 to 10 workers) to 5.9 for mid-size establishments (those employing 50 to 249 workers). While incidence rates remained relatively unchanged for establishments employing fewer than 250 workers, the rates for establishments with 250 to 999 workers and for establishments with 1,000 or more workers both declined significantly in 2004 to 5.4 cases per 100 full-time workers, down from 5.8 and 5.7 cases per 100 workers, respectively, in 2003.

Approximately 2.2 million injuries and illnesses were cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction(that is, they required recuperation away from work, transfer to another job, restricted duties at work, or a combination of these actions).

The remaining 2.0 million injuries and illnesses were other recordable cases that did not result in time away from work.

The incidence rate for cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction was 2.5 cases per 100 workers, and the rate for other recordable cases was 2.3. Both of these rates decreased by 0.1 cases per 100 workers from 2003.

Cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction are comprised of two case types, those requiring at least one day away from work, with or without job transfer or restriction, and those requiring only job transfer or restriction. The latter case type may involve
shortened work hours, a temporary job change, or temporary restrictions on a worker's regular duties; for example, no heavy lifting.

Separately, the rate for cases with days away from work was 1.4 cases per 100 workers and the rate for cases with job transfer or restriction was 1.1 cases per 100 workers.

Of the 4.3 million nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in 2004, 4.0 million were injuries. There were about 249,000 newly reported cases of occupational illnesses in private industry in 2004, down by nearly 8 percent from 269,500 cases in 2003.

In August, the bureau reported a 2 percent rise in the number of fatal work injuries in 2004. Fatal work injuries increased from 5,575 in 2003 to 5,703 in 2004.