25th Annual Index Helps Employers Improve Safety to Better Protect Employees and the Bottom Line
BOSTON (July 15, 2025) – Liberty Mutual Insurance has released its 2025 Workplace Safety Index, revealing the leading causes and financial impact of the most serious workplace injuries in the US.
For 25 years the Index has identified the top ten causes of workplace injuries - those causing an employee to miss more than five days of work - and ranked them by their medical and lost-wage payments. These ten causes account for over 86% of the total cost of all workplace injuries, $58.78B.
“The Index provides employers a trusted roadmap for improving workplace safety,” said Liberty Mutual Senior Vice President and General Manager, Risk Control, Dorothy Doyle. “We’re proud to provide this important report, which offers valuable data and insights to help employers prevent injuries and manage risks more effectively, underscoring our commitment to protecting workers and supporting safer, more resilient businesses.”
Its objective data and actionable insights have never been more important because companies today face fewer but more expensive workplace injuries. In fact, the rate of serious workplace accidents fell by about 40 percent over the 25 years represented by the Index, while the total cost of workers compensation benefits increased by 30 percent, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and National Academy of Social Insurance.
Key Findings
- Top Injury Causes:
- Overexertion involving outside sources remains the #1 cause, accounting for $13.7 billion in costs, largely due to manual material handling.
- Falls on the same level is the #2 cause, with $10.5 billion in costs, emphasizing the need for slip, trip, and fall prevention strategies.
- Struck by object or equipment and Falls to a lower level also continue to be major injury drivers, together accounting for nearly $11.6 billion in costs.
- Injuries due to Other exertions and bodily reactions, Roadway incidents, and Caught-in or compressed by equipment also feature prominently in the top 10, underlining the diverse risks present in today’s workplaces.
- Consistency of findings 2001-2025:
- Overexertion and Falls on same level have been the #1 and #2 causes in each Index.
- Seven of this year’s top 10 injury causes appeared in all 25 indices.
Liberty Mutual also produces eight industry-specific indices detailing injury causes and costs in Manufacturing, Construction, Healthcare & Social Services, Professional & Business Services, Retail, Wholesale, Leisure & Hospitality and Transportation & Warehousing.
Methodology
The Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index is based on information from Liberty Mutual, customized data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Office of Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, and the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI). BLS non-fatal injury data are analyzed with the Liberty Mutual data to determine which events caused employees to miss more than five days of work, and then to rank those events by workers compensation costs, which are then scaled to the NASI total cost. To capture accurate injury cost data, each index is based on data three years prior. Accordingly, the 2025 index reflects 2022 data.
###
About Liberty Mutual Insurance
At Liberty Mutual, we believe progress happens when people feel secure. For more than 110 years we have helped people and businesses embrace today and confidently pursue tomorrow by providing protection for the unexpected and delivering it with care.
A Fortune 100 company with more than 40,000 employees in 28 countries and economies, we are the ninth largest global property and casualty insurer and generate more than $50 billion in annual consolidated revenue.
We operate through three strategic business units: US Retail Markets, providing auto, home, renters and other personal and small commercial lines property and casualty insurance to individuals and small businesses countrywide; Global Risk Solutions, delivering a full range of comprehensive commercial and specialty insurance, reinsurance and surety solutions to mid-size and large businesses worldwide; and Liberty Mutual Investments, deploying more than $100 billion of long-term capital globally across its integrated platform to drive economic growth, power innovation and secure Liberty Mutual’s promises.
For more information, visit www.libertymutualinsurance.com.
Contact: Liberty Mutual Insurance Public & Media Relations
