How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 2,256 severe thigh injuries over the last decade, with fractures representing 78% of these incidents. These injuries often involve the femur, the strongest bone in your body, meaning a break typically requires immediate surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
Damage to your thigh muscles and bones directly impacts your mobility and your ability to perform physical tasks. A severe injury to this area can prevent you from standing, walking, or operating machinery, effectively halting your ability to earn a living in many manual labor roles.
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Free Benefits ReviewHow these injuries happen
Falls are the primary driver of your thigh injuries, with falls on the same level accounting for 41% of all reported cases. Whether you trip over an uneven surface, slip on a wet floor, or fall from an elevated platform, the impact force often travels directly into your thigh bone. These incidents frequently involve constructed surfaces like concrete floors or stairs.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fall on same level | 907 |
| 2 | Other fall to lower level | 446 |
| 3 | Struck by falling object | 175 |
| 4 | Struck by propelled object or substance | 80 |
| 5 | Injured by object handled by person | 73 |
| 6 | Pedestrian struck by vehicle in nonroadway area | 65 |
| 7 | Nonroadway collision with object other than vehicle | 36 |
| 8 | Nonroadway noncollision incident | 33 |
Where injuries happen most
Manufacturing leads all sectors with 24% of thigh injuries, largely due to the environment of heavy machinery and material handling. You are frequently exposed to falling objects and collision risks that can crush or fracture your thigh. Construction and retail trade follow closely, where the combination of heavy lifting and cluttered work areas creates a constant risk of life-altering falls.
Real cases like yours
Many reported incidents involve you performing routine tasks like adjusting equipment, walking across a warehouse floor, or stepping off a trailer. A recurring theme is the presence of unexpected hazards, such as cords, elevated risers, or unstable forklift forks, which lead to sudden, high-impact falls. 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 employer negligence played a role.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | TX | Construction | "An employee was airing up a trailer tire in the gas station parking lot. When he stepped backward, he tripped over an elevated fuel riser and suffered a fractured right femur." | |
| 2025 | AL | Manufacturing | "On July 31, 2025, an employee was walking when they fell on the concrete floor. The employee sustained a fractured right femur." | |
| 2025 | NY | Health Care | "An employee was sitting with a client in a dental exam room. When she stood up at the end of the appointment, her foot got caught on a cord that operates the dental hand pieces, causing her to trip and fall to the floor on her right side. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured femur and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | FL | Manufacturing | "On July 25, 2025, at 11:21 a.m., an employee was sitting underneath the forks of a forklift while performing maintenance on the forklift when the forks dropped onto them, resulting in a broken femur." | |
| 2025 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was standing on the forks of a forklift adjusting a pallet on a storage rack in the warehouse. The employee fell from the forklift, landing on the ground and suffering a broken femur." | |
| 2025 | PA | Manufacturing | "An employee was walking down a hallway In front of offices when she tripped over a door mat and fell to the floor. The employee sustained a fractured left femur." | |
| 2025 | IL | Manufacturing | "An employee was walking up a set of three steps that lead out of a pit. Water that had leaked from a valve was on his boots and he slipped and fell backward to the floor. The employee sustained an injury to his L5 vertebra and a ruptured hamstring that required surgery." | |
| 2025 | FL | Health Care | "An employee was taking care of a client inside their home. The employee tripped and fell to the ground while walking, resulting in hospitalization with a fractured right femur." | |
| 2025 | OH | Retail Trade | "An employee was using a manual pallet jack to pull dairy products to the dairy cooler. He slipped and fell on absorbent matting near the dairy cooler. He sustained a fractured left femur." | |
| 2025 | WI | Public Administration | "An employee was walking down a hallway when they stepped on a small puddle of liquid and fell backward onto their left leg, resulting in a broken left femur." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.