Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Program Description

wman with 3 men in a manufacture plant

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has a robust program that is responsive to the occupational safety and health problems that burden today’s and tomorrow’s workers in manufacturing. In 2015, over 15 million U.S. workers were employed in 21 manufacturing sub-sectors, including food, beverages, tobacco, textiles, petroleum, chemicals, metals, machinery, computers, transportation equipment, and furniture manufacturing. The largest sub-sectors were transportation equipment manufacturing, fabricated metal products manufacturing, and food manufacturing.

NAICS NAICS Subsector Title Establishments within NAICS Group Number of Workers
311 Food manufacturing Animal food and grain milling; sugar and confectionery products; fruit and vegetable preserving, dairy products; animal slaughter; bakeries; and seafood manufacturing 1,753,000
312 Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing Beverage and tobacco manufacturing 282,000
313 Textile Mills Fiber, yarn, thread, and fabric mills 136,000
314 Textile product mills Carpet, rug, curtain, linen, textile bag and canvas mills 165,000
315 Apparel Manufacturing Apparel knitting mills; cut and sew apparel manufacturing, and apparel accessories 254,000
316 Leather and allied product manufacturing Footwear, leather tanning and finishing manufacturing 57,000
321 Wood products manufacturing Sawmills and wood preservation; veneer, plywood and engineered wood products; and prefabricated wood buildings and mobile homes 411,000
322 Paper manufacturing and printing Pulp, paper and paperboard mills; paperboard container, paper bag, stationary and other paper product manufacturing 381,000
323 Printing and related support activities Commercial screen, book and other commercial printing 509,00
324 Petroleum and coal products manufacturing Petroleum refining and other miscellaneous petroleum and coal products 206,000
325 Chemicals manufacturing Resin, synthetic rubber and fibers, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals and medicine, paint, coating, adhesive, soap, cleaning compounds, cosmetics, and industrial chemical manufacturing 1,367,000
327 Nonmetallic mineral products manufacturing Pottery, clay, glass, cement, concrete and lime manufacturing 456,000
331 Primary metal manufacturing Iron, steel, aluminum production and processing; and foundries 519,000
332 Fabricated metal products manufacturing Cutlery and hand tool; architectural and structural metals; hardware; spring and wire; screw, nut and bolt  manufacturing 1,207,000
333 Machinery manufacturing Manufacture of equipment used in agriculture, construction, mining, oil and gas, and service industries; engine, turbine, and power transmission manufacturing 1,270,000
334 Computers and electronic products manufacturing Computer and peripheral equipment, communications, audio and video, navigational, and electronic component manufacturing 1,171,000
335 Electrical equipment and appliances manufacturing Household appliance, electric lighting, and electrical equipment manufacturing 377,000
336 Transportation equipment manufacturing Motor vehicles, aircraft, aerospace products, railroad rolling stock, ship, and boat manufacturing 2,366,000
337 Furniture and related product manufacturing Furniture 425,000
339 Miscellaneous manufacturing Medical equipment and supplies; sporting and athletic goods; and doll, toy and game manufacturing 1,507,000

The Number of Workers is obtained from the 2015 Current Population Survey, http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat18.pdf, accessed September 16, 2016

Several challenges in occupational safety and health in the manufacturing industry still require attention.  Three hundred and forty-nine manufacturing sector workers died from work-related injuries in 2014.1 The leading causes of death were contact with objects and equipment, transportation incidents, and falls.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 483,300 recordable injury or illness cases in manufacturing industries in 2014 with more than half of these requiring days away from work, job transfer or restriction. The leading causes of days away from work cases were overexertion and repetitive motion (46,040); contact with objects (45,870); and slips, trips, and falls (23,290).2 There were fourteen industries that reported more than 70,000 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses to BLS in 2014; three of these were in the manufacturing sector: transportation equipment manufacturing (73,900), fabricated metal product manufacturing (70,500), and food manufacturing (76,600).3

NIOSH uses several surveillance systems available (internal and external) to inform and guide efforts to improve worker safety and health research and interventions and to monitor trends and progress over time. It pulls together information from stakeholders that contributes to the generation of new knowledge and development of tools and solutions for difficult-to-solve problems. Our stakeholder are also engaged in the dissemination and implementation of the new products.

1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). Table A-1. Fatal occupational injuries by industry and event or exposure, all United States, 2014 http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cftb0286.pdf

2U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2016). Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and Fatal Injuries Profiles, 2014. http://www.bls.gov/iif/

3U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014) TABLE 2. Numbers of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by case type and ownership, selected industries, 2014 http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/osh_10292015.pdf

Follow NIOSH

NIOSH Homepage

Top