Occupational injury and death
Unsurprisingly, work-related physical injury deaths occur most commonly in professions dealing with heavy machinery and requiring strenuous physical activity, such as logging work, fishing, and structural iron and steel work. In 2020, there were around 4,764 deaths from occupational injury in the United States, with the largest portion involving those aged 55 to 64 years. In 2020, incidences of non-fatal occupational injuries involving days away from work occured most commonly among dietetic technicians, welding, soldering, and brazing machine setters, operators, and tenders, and athletes and sports competitors. That year, there were around 32 injuries and illnesses that involved days away from work per 100 dietetic technicians.Health-related absence
While those with jobs not involving physical danger are still prone to sickness, a large share of people in the United States do not actually take any sick days. Statista's global consumer survey from 2020 to 2022 found that roughly a third to a quarter of U.S. adults did not miss any work or school/university in the past 12 months due to ill health. Of those that did, 2-3 days was the most common number of sick days taken. The COVID-19 pandemic that hit the United States in March 2020 had an affect on seasonal health-related workplace absenteeism, with 2020 to 2022 seeing some of the highest rates of abesenteesim in recent years. Another major cause for absenteeism is work-related stress which can impact workers' productivity and lead to burnout when it is not properly addressed and managed.Work-related stress
The main factors contributing to stress at work include workload, worrying about job security, and trouble balancing work and personal obligations. A survey of U.S. employees from 2022 found that around 23 percent reported their self-assessed level of burnout to be very high or high, while only 41 percent reported it to be low or very low. Such information has inspired more employers to provide employees with benefits and wellbeing programs to reduce stress. Health programs highly valued by employees in 2021 included onsite health centers, personalized health management, sleep improvement program or resources, and telephonic/virtual/online visit with a mental health professional. Larger companies are more likely to provide employees with such benefits with around a quarter of small firms stating that the cost of health insurance is too high for them to offer their employees health benefits.
