How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 3,574 severe intracranial injuries between 2015 and 2025. These cases almost exclusively involve traumatic brain injuries and concussions that require immediate hospitalization and long-term medical intervention.
Damage to the brain affects your cognitive function, motor skills, and emotional regulation. Even a single incident can permanently impair your ability to return to your previous role or maintain your standard of living.
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Free Benefits ReviewHow these injuries happen
Other falls to a lower level account for 39% of all severe brain injuries. Whether you fall from a ladder, scaffolding, or a roof, the impact of your head against a constructed surface often leads to immediate and severe neurological trauma.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other fall to lower level | 1,328 |
| 2 | Fall on same level | 899 |
| 3 | Struck by falling object | 237 |
| 4 | Hitting, kicking, beating by other person | 147 |
| 5 | Nonroadway noncollision incident | 127 |
| 6 | Struck against stationary object | 77 |
| 7 | Struck by propelled object or substance | 74 |
| 8 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | 61 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 19% of these severe cases. Working at heights, combined with the presence of heavy falling objects, creates an environment where a single safety lapse can result in a catastrophic brain injury.
Real cases like yours
Many reported incidents involve preventable falls from heights or sudden, violent physical altercations in the workplace. These stories frequently highlight failures in fall protection systems or inadequate security measures that left you vulnerable to blunt force trauma. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident to determine if your employer failed to provide a safe environment.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "The injured employee was working from the cab of the debarker when a former employee approached. There was an argument and the former employee struck the injured employee in the head. The injured employee ended up on the ground as the former employee continued to hit him. The injured employee was bleeding from his head, had internal bleeding, and sustained a concussion." | |
| 2025 | MD | Construction | "An employee was on an A-frame ladder while preforming demolition of a ceiling. A section of HVAC ductwork fell on the employee and knocked them to the ground approximately 12 feet below. The employee was hospitalized with a concussion and lacerations." | |
| 2025 | AL | Manufacturing | "Two employees engaged in a verbal altercation. The injured employee was punched in the face and fell, hitting their head on the concrete floor. The employee sustained a brain bleed and blunt force trauma to the face." | |
| 2025 | MO | Health Care | "An employee was on the phone with his supervisor when a patient walked up and punched him. The employee was knocked to the floor and the patient kicked him multiple times causing injuries to his head, left cheek, left eye, mouth, and right hand. The employee sustained a traumatic brain injury/concussion and a left periorbital edema." | |
| 2025 | FL | Other Services | "An employee was ascending a ladder and slipped and fell to the ground, striking his head and back. The employee sustained a skull fracture with internal bleeding, two fractured vertebrae, and a fractured rib." | |
| 2025 | MA | Construction | "An employee was stripping siding when they fell 18 feet from a ladder to the ground. The employee sustained a possible head injury and was hospitalized." | |
| 2025 | FL | Construction | "An employee was on a ladder, setting vertical columns, when he lost balance and fell approximately 15 feet to the ground, resulting in a concussion." | |
| 2025 | GA | Construction | "On July 25, 2025, an employee was walking on roof trusses when they fell 10 feet to the ground. The employee was hospitalized with a concussion and a back injury." | |
| 2025 | OH | Transportation & Warehousing | "On July 23, 2025, an employee was loading irregular packages into a truck. A pole that was being shipped fell from from an upright position and struck the employee on the head, resulting in a concussion." | |
| 2025 | WV | Transportation & Warehousing | "An employee was loading inflatable rafts onto a flatbed truck. The employee misstepped and fell from the truck, striking the left side of their head on a concrete pad and sustaining bruises to their left eye socket, hand, elbow, and knee, as well as a bloody nose. The employee was hospitalized with a concussion and a brain bleed." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.