How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 219 severe cases involving violence from customers or clients over the last decade. Fractures are your most common injury type, appearing in 30% of reported incidents, followed by intracranial injuries in 11% of cases.
These injuries are severe because they often involve direct physical trauma. You may suffer from long-term musculoskeletal damage or brain injuries that impact your ability to return to your previous role. An attorney can help you secure the benefits you need to recover.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Most injuries occur when a verbal confrontation escalates into a physical assault. Hitting, kicking, or beating by another person accounts for 70% of incidents, while unspecified violent acts by others account for 21%.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hitting, kicking, beating by other person | 154 |
| 2 | Violent acts by other person— unspecified | 47 |
| 3 | Shooting by other person | 6 |
| 4 | Stabbing, cutting, slashing by other person | 4 |
| 5 | Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object— n.e.c. | 3 |
| 6 | Overexertion while materials moving by hand | 2 |
| 7 | Contact with other person while providing medical or custodial care | 1 |
| 8 | Overexertion while moving or manipulating external object(s)— n.e.c. | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Retail trade accounts for 31% of these incidents, while healthcare accounts for 27%.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns include sudden physical outbursts during routine service tasks, such as bussing tables or managing passenger exits. Many incidents involve you being targeted in parking lots or during disputes over store policies. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can review the specifics of your incident to determine if your employer failed to provide a safe environment.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | OK | Transportation & Warehousing | "A bus agency manager was getting a passenger to leave a bus. As the passenger was walking to exit the bus, he stabbed the manager in the stomach with a knife." | |
| 2025 | OH | Retail Trade | "On 7/05/2025, an employee was involved in a verbal confrontation with a customer at the check-out area. Later, in the parking lot, the customer drove her vehicle toward the employee, hitting his leg. The employee sustained a fractured leg." | |
| 2025 | GA | Wholesale Trade | "On May 25, 2025, an argument and physical altercation occurred between two customers and employees. The injured employee was struck by one of the customers, fell, and struck a bench in the store. She was hospitalized with two fractured ribs and a punctured lung." | |
| 2025 | FL | Accommodation & Food Services | "An employee was performing regular job duties, including bussing tables. The employee was punched in the face by a patron of the restaurant. The employee was hospitalized with loss of consciousness, brain swelling/bleeding, and multiple avulsions of teeth." | |
| 2025 | FL | Retail Trade | "Two employees were working in the pharmacy when a customer discharged a firearm after a dispute. One employee was shot in the foot and was not hospitalized. The other employee was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the abdomen and required surgery." | |
| 2025 | FL | Retail Trade | "An employee was breaking up a fight on the bar side of the liquor store. The individual being assaulted pulled a gun and shot another customer several times. Bullets went through the employee's hands. The employee sustained severe injuries to both hands requiring surgery." | |
| 2025 | DC | Real Estate | "An employee was in his car in the parking lot of his workplace (apartment complex) when a resident shot him with a gun. The employee was hospitalized with gunshot injuries to his right ribs and shoulder." | |
| 2025 | GA | Retail Trade | "A customer entered the store and started an argument with employees working in the deli. Two employees sustained gunshot wounds and were hospitalized. " | |
| 2025 | FL | Health Care | "An employee went to catch a client who was falling and they both fell to the floor. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis." | |
| 2025 | IL | Retail Trade | "On April 15, 2025, an employee was physically assaulted by an aggressive customer. The employee sustained broken and missing teeth as well as facial lacerations and was hospitalized. " |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.