Despite nearly three million non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported by private employers last year, results from a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics’ survey show the total recordable cases incidence rate fell 0.1 cases per 100 full-time workers.

Overall, employers reported nearly 54,000 fewer non-fatal injury and illness cases in 2014 compared to a year earlier. While the total recordable cases incidence rate fell, the rates for cases involving days away from work and for cases of job transfer or restriction only were unchanged.

After reviewing the report, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels said “today’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows that too many workers are still being injured or sickened on the job. Every year, millions of workers are injured at work and that is simply unacceptable. We must redouble our efforts to make sure that employers provide workers with the protections and training they deserve.”

“Workplace injuries and illnesses have a devastating effect on workers, their families, and the businesses where they occur,” Michaels continued. “These injuries and illnesses contribute to the pressing issue of income inequality: they force working families out of the middle class and into poverty, and keep the families of lower-wage workers from entering the middle class and achieving the American Dream.”