In more than four decades, OSHA and our state partners, coupled with the efforts of employers, safety and health professionals, unions and advocates, have had a dramatic effect on workplace safety. Worker deaths in America are down-on average, from about 38 worker deaths a day in 1970 to 14 a day in 2017. Worker injuries and illnesses Links to an external site. are down-from 10.9 incidents per 100 workers in 1972 to 2.8 per 100 in 2017 While injuries and illnesses have consistently shown a decline, fatalities have increased or remained close to flat since 2013. Speculate as to why injury and illness rates have declined while fatality rates have begun to increase