Risk of COVID-19 infections at the workplace: Lessons learned from OSHA investigations.

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic had a catastrophic impact on human life and business globally. Susceptible occupations and individuals need to be specially identified, and the risk needs to be assessed for better protection of workers and the sustainability of a business. This study aims to assess workplace risk based on U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-confirmed work-related COVID-19 infection cases.

METHOD: A total of 3,799 workplace COVID-19 infection reports investigated and published by OSHA between 2020 and 2024 were collected and analyzed, and 4,615 infected employees were identified from these reports, which included 64.5% fatalities and 29.7% hospitalized injuries.

RESULTS

Analysis of OSHA reports shows that certain industries had a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection, particularly health care and social assistance, public administration, and manufacturing. These industries often require direct and close contact with other people, or working in a confined environment. For example, the Health Care and Social Assistance (North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS, #62) accounted for 49% of OSHA investigations. Compared with the whole civilian population, civilian labor force has a higher risk (average +24%) of COVID-19 deaths across all age groups assessed (25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64), and male civilian labor force had 15% higher chance of COVID-19 deaths than the female group.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: The higher mortality risk among workers implies that additional occupational control measures need to be established and implemented.