Every year, OSHA publishes a list of the industries where workers are most likely to get seriously hurt. For 2026, some of the industries at the top may surprise you.
Here are the 10 most hazardous industries for FY 2026, what drives the risk in each one, and what Delaware employers can do about it.
OSHA ranks industries by their injury rates using two measures. The first is how often injuries send workers home or limit what they can do (DART rate). The second is how severe those injuries tend to be. The industries below rank highest across both measures for FY 2026 (OSHA, FY2026).
Nursing care tops the non-manufacturing hazard list. The primary driver is patient handling: lifting, repositioning, and transferring residents causes a high rate of musculoskeletal injuries among caregivers. Slips and falls, exposure to infectious disease, and workplace violence from residents also contribute.
What to do: Implement a safe patient handling program. Use mechanical lifts and transfer aids. Train staff on body mechanics and report near-misses consistently.
Warehousing has climbed steadily on the hazard list as e-commerce has intensified the pace and volume of work. Forklift incidents, falls from loading docks and elevated storage areas, repetitive lifting injuries, and struck-by incidents drive the high injury rate.
What to do: Enforce forklift operator certification. Establish clear pedestrian separation zones. Audit manual material handling tasks for ergonomic risk.
Framing is one of the most physically demanding trades in construction. Falls from height, nail gun injuries, caught-in hazards from power tools, and struck-by incidents from falling materials are the primary risks.
What to do: Verify fall protection is in place before work begins at any elevated surface. Inspect tools daily. Enforce hard hat zones on every framing site.
Healthcare workers in behavioral health settings face elevated rates of workplace violence from patients. These injuries are often underreported and frequently result in significant time away from work.
What to do: Train staff on de-escalation techniques. Establish a workplace violence prevention program. Ensure workers know how and when to call for help.
EMTs and paramedics face hazards from multiple directions: patient lifting injuries, vehicle accidents, needle sticks, and exposure to infectious materials. The physically demanding nature of patient transport in confined spaces makes musculoskeletal injuries especially common.
What to do: Provide mechanical assist equipment for patient loading. Enforce seatbelt use in transport. Review exposure control plans for bloodborne pathogens.
Agriculture carries some of the highest injury and fatality rates of any industry in the United States (BLS, 2024). In cattle operations, workers face hazards from animal handling, tractor operation, heavy equipment, and extreme weather conditions.
What to do: Establish handling procedures that minimize direct contact with cattle. Require rollover protection structures (ROPS) on all tractors. Never work alone with large livestock.
This manufacturing sector leads the entire manufacturing safety list for FY 2026. Workers operate high-speed saws, nail guns, and assembly presses, and handle large, heavy panels. Lacerations, crush injuries, and repetitive strain injuries are the most common outcomes.
What to do: Verify all machine guards are in place before operation. Conduct regular equipment inspections. Assess ergonomic risks in repetitive assembly tasks.
Siding work puts crews at height for extended periods, often on ladders or scaffolding on residential and commercial buildings. Falls are the primary cause of serious injury and death.
What to do: Develop a job hazard analysis for every project that includes work at height. Inspect ladders before each use. Train workers specifically on ladder safety and fall protection.
Agricultural animal operations present consistent hazards: animal-related injuries from handling, respiratory hazards from confined animal feeding operations, manure gas exposure, and machinery incidents during feeding and cleaning operations.
What to do: Establish written confined space entry procedures for manure pits. Require proper respiratory protection during cleaning operations. Train workers on animal behavior and safe handling techniques.
Like nursing care facilities, retirement communities see high rates of injuries from patient and resident handling, slip and fall incidents among staff, and workplace violence. The aging resident population and often physically demanding care tasks create sustained risk.
What to do: Implement a safe resident handling program. Conduct slip/trip/fall hazard audits in resident areas and staff work zones. Establish a workplace violence prevention policy.
Looking across these industries, three hazard patterns show up again and again:
Physical strain from handling people or materials. Nursing care, warehousing, ambulance services, and retirement communities all show high rates of musculoskeletal injuries. The work is physically demanding, often repetitive, and frequently done under time pressure.
Falls from height. Framing, siding, and construction trades are on this list every year because workers spend their days at elevations where a single misstep causes serious harm.
Equipment and animal hazards. Manufacturing, agriculture, and warehousing all involve machinery, large animals, or powered vehicles that demand consistent training, guarding, and operational discipline.
None of these are new hazards. They are preventable. The businesses that keep their workers safe are the ones that treat these hazards as fixed priorities, not occasional reminders.
Being in a high hazard industry is not a judgment on your business. It reflects patterns across your entire sector. But it is a signal worth taking seriously.
Start with a hazard walk. Walk your operation with a supervisor and ask: where are workers most likely to get hurt? Focus on the three hazard categories above: physical strain, falls, and equipment.
Review your injury records. Look at your OSHA 300 log for the past two to three years. Are the same types of injuries recurring? Patterns in your own data are the most actionable information you have.
Get outside eyes on your operation. It is difficult to spot hazards you have seen every day for years. SafeDE offers free, confidential on-site consultations for Delaware businesses in every industry on this list. A SafeDE consultant will walk your facility, identify what you may have missed, and give you a practical written report with no citations, no fines, and no enforcement involvement.
Schedule your free consultation: worksafe.delaware.gov/consultation