Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama Have the Highest Forklift Injury Rates in the U.S., New Analysis of OSHA Data Finds
An analysis of 5,618 OSHA forklift severe injury reports (2015–2025) ranks every federal-OSHA state. Workers on foot
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An analysis of 5,618 OSHA forklift severe injury reports (2015–2025) ranks every federal-OSHA state. Workers on foot struck by forklifts top the list.
TOMBALL, TX, UNITED STATES, November 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — US Forklift Certification has released a new state-by-state analysis of forklift accidents. It is based on 5,618 forklift-related severe injury reports that employers filed with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) between January 2015 and November 2025. These are injuries serious enough that the employer had to report them to OSHA: an amputation, an in-patient hospitalization or the loss of an eye. Forklift injuries made up 5.3% of all severe injury reports, about 10 a week.
Key findings:
– By raw count, Texas had the most forklift severe injury reports from 2015 to 2024 (893), followed by Florida (505), Georgia (468), Ohio (464) and Pennsylvania (452).
– When the counts are adjusted for workforce size, the Southeast leads. Mississippi has the highest rate, 1.24 reports per 100,000 private-sector workers per year, followed by Georgia (1.22) and Alabama (1.21). Texas ranks 8th (0.84). The average across all covered states is 0.70.
– The most common accident was a forklift striking a worker on foot (26.8% of reports). Next was a worker caught in or between a forklift and another object (23.9%).
– 17.7% of forklift severe injury reports involved an amputation.
– The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 84 forklift-related worker deaths in 2024, up from 67 in 2023.
“Most of these injuries happen to people who aren’t even driving the forklift. When you look at the reports, the same accidents keep showing up: a worker on foot gets hit, or someone gets pinned against a rack or a dock. Proper operator training and pedestrian rules prevent a lot of that,” said Norm Lanier, Owner of US Forklift Certification.
The analysis covers the 29 states and Washington, D.C., where federal OSHA oversees private employers. The 21 states that run their own OSHA-approved State Plans, including California, Michigan, North Carolina and Washington, are not included in OSHA’s federal Severe Injury Reports. Injury rates were calculated using private-sector employment from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
The full report includes state rankings, charts, injury types by industry and a downloadable data file. It is available at https://usforkliftcertification.com/forklift-accidents-by-state/
Journalists and publishers may use the charts and data with credit and a link to US Forklift Certification.
About US Forklift Certification
US Forklift Certification provides OSHA-aligned online forklift operator training and train-the-trainer programs for employers and workers across the United States.
Norman Lanier
US Forklift Certification
+1 866-556-8732
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