Short answer:  With proper form, listening to feedback your body gives you and managing the stress placed on yourself, no.*

Long answer: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

But more seriously, according to a metastudy by Aasa et al, “The injury incidence in weightlifting was 2.4–3.3 injuries/1000 hours of training and 1.0–4.4 injuries/1000 hours of training in powerlifting”.  Another metastudy by Keough et al concluded that “While the majority of the research we reviewed utilized retrospective designs, the weight-training sports appear to have relatively low rates of injury compared with common team sports. Future weight-training sport injury epidemiology research needs to be improved, particularly in terms of the use of prospective designs, diagnosis of injury, and changes in risk exposure”. 

To put this injury rate in perspective, a study by Fu et al concluded that “The authors found an overall injury rate of 6.05 injuries per 1000 playing hours, and that players were rendered inactive for an average of 73.4 days following the injury”.  For contact sports, such as football, a study by Dvorak et al concluded that “The frequency of football injuries is estimated to be approximately 10 to 35 per 1000 playing hours. The majority of injuries occur in the lower extremities, mainly in the knees and ankles; the number of head injuries is probably underestimated”.

Does powerlifting carry more of an injury risk than sitting on the couch?   Yes.  Every physical activity carries its risks.  One can easily twist their ankle while taking a stroll around the neighborhood, trip and fall, get hit by a car, the list goes on.  Actions should be taken to minimize risk when performing lifts, or  other sport / activity you may participate in.  Powerlifting isn’t inherently dangerous, and if you truly wish to stay injury free, I would recommend speaking to a sports physical therapist.  Obviously I am biased, because I powerlift, but I feel that this is a stereotype that needs to die (or at least have proper evidence to back it up).

*All content and media on Fitramblings.com is created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Another great resource on this can be found here: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/powerlifting-injuries-background/

Sources:

A;, D. (n.d.). Football injuries and physical symptoms. a review of the literature. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11032101/#:~:text=Abstract,35%20per%201000%20playing%20hours.

Aasa, U., Svartholm, I., Andersson, F., & Berglund, L. (2017, February 01). Injuries among weightlifters and powerlifters: A systematic review. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/4/211

Fu, M., Ellenbecker, T., Renstrom, P., Windler, G., & Dines, D. (2018, March). Epidemiology of injuries in tennis players. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5825333/

PW;, K. (n.d.). The epidemiology of injuries across the weight-training sports. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27328853/