NCCI’s first workplace violence report, published in April 2026, documents a 62% increase in the workplace assault rate per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers from 2011 to 2022. Nonfatal assaults grew at an annualized 5.3% rate over that span, nearly five times faster than the 13% growth in national aggravated assault rates over the same period.
The data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Assaults’ share of all days-away-from-work (DAFW) cases rose from 1.3% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2019, and under updated BLS coding reached 3.0% in 2023 and 2024.
Who it affects
Self-insured healthcare systems, school districts, social service agencies, and the public entities that pool their liability.
Healthcare and social assistance reported roughly 18,860 annualized assault cases in 2023 and 2024, ten times the figure for retail trade, the next-highest sector. Under updated BLS source codes, 74% of all workplace assaults were committed by individuals under the worker’s care or supervision: patients, students, clients. Women experience assault rates 2.7 times higher than men (4.0 versus 1.5 per 10,000 FTEs), reflecting the fact that women make up 78% of the healthcare and social assistance workforce.
The education sector saw its own spike. Student-on-employee assault claims peaked in 2022 and 2023 at 1,426 claims and $9.7 million in total incurred cost, though the following year brought a 39% decline in frequency. Whether that decline holds will depend on whether post-pandemic behavioral patterns stabilize.
The reserve mechanism: frequency outrunning assumptions
The core signal is frequency. A 5.3% annualized growth rate sustained over a decade will compound silently inside a blended WC frequency assumption that may only contemplate 1% to 2% annual growth. For healthcare systems and school districts running workers’ compensation programs, assault claims may already be material enough to warrant a separate frequency trend.
Severity compounds the problem. Assault claims carry a psychological trauma component (PTSD, anxiety, reluctance to return to work) that extends treatment duration and widens the gap between initial case reserves and ultimate payouts. If your actuary’s development factors were calibrated on a period when assaults were a smaller share of the mix, those factors may understate the tail on recent accident years.
Nearly 93% of workplace assaults involve hitting, kicking, or beating. These are not ambiguous repetitive-stress claims; they generate clear incident reports and rapid initial filings, but the indemnity and medical tail can stretch well beyond the physical injury.
What to watch
Federal legislation (HR 2531) would require healthcare and social service employers to implement workplace violence prevention plans. If enacted, mandated prevention programs could eventually bend the frequency curve downward, but compliance costs would add to near-term operating expense before any loss reduction materializes. NCCI’s forthcoming second report on workplace fatality trends may provide additional severity benchmarks.
What this means for your next review
Ask your actuary whether assault-related claims are trending separately or blended into the overall WC frequency assumption. For self-insured hospitals and school districts, request the severity differential between assault and non-assault claims. If it is widening, the blended development factor may be understating your IBNR on recent years.
Sources
- NCCI Workplace Violence: Part One, Assault Trends, Drivers, and Demographics
- Insurance Journal: Workers’ Comp: What to Know About Workplace Violence (May 4, 2026)
- NCCI Launches New Series on Workplace Violence (WorkCompWire, April 2026)
- BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), 2011 to 2024