A data-driven analysis of industry-specific occupational injury risks and patterns

Despite advancements in occupational safety management, injury prevention remains a persistent challenge across industries. This study presents a data-driven investigation into severe occupational injuries using publicly available reports from the U.S. OSHA. Employing Association Rule Mining (ARM) combined with thematic analysis, we identify distinct industry-specific injury profiles and uncover interrelated risk patterns. Key findings indicate a prevalence of finger injuries in manufacturing, falls and burns in construction, lower limb injuries in transportation and wholesale sectors, frequent fall-related incidents in retail, burn and hand injuries in mining and high rates of lower back injuries in healthcare settings. The analysis reveals complex co-occurrence patterns among contributing risk factors, such as task type, environmental conditions and body part affected, that influence both the type and severity of injuries. These insights offer valuable guidance for designing targeted, sector-specific safety interventions and underscore the importance of leveraging occupational injury data to inform evidence-based prevention strategies.