On the Job Injuries – A few statistics
You may know some common injury statistics, like that you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than winning the lottery, or only 1 in 10 people who are bitten by a shark die from it. Well, when it comes to Worker’s Compensation cases, there are many statistics about frequency and types of jobs that incur the most injuries. Like anything else, there are definitely jobs that are more dangerous than others, so it is interesting to review and be aware of positions that will place you at the most risk. Read below to learn about some statistics relating to dangers on the job.
Surprisingly, overexertion was the number one reported type of accident among employees from 2007 to 2011. However, the highest in incurred costs was oxygen deficiency, classified by harmful or toxic working conditions. Keep in mind that this is mostly because overexertion causes less damage than oxygen deficiency does.
If you are looking to watch your back on the job, then you may want to know that this is solely the most injured body part at work. In fact, there are almost double the claims referring to the back and spine alone than any other limb, per year. It is also one of the highest incurred costs, due to the expense of treatments and rehabilitation with back and spine injuries. So if you’ve ever wondered, “What injury occurs the most frequently?” Well, the spine and spinal cord is number one, and actually have the highest percentage of accepted workers compensation claims, with close to 13% of cases seeing damages recovered.
What if your job field is prone to injuries? It may be important to know just how risky a position is if it is one that you are already in, or considering. The most dangerous lines of work as reported in 2011 were Agriculture (having to do with machinery), Automotive, Carpentry, and Food Service. Railroad and traffic (road) workers are at high risk as well. Here’s a statistic that will surprise many of you, but it has actually been shown that jobs with higher training, such as engineering, have more safety precautions in place, and therefore these companies and employees know how to respond better in a dangerous situation, preventing many accidents.
Of course, there are many more numbers and questions that we could ask and analyze, but now you have a little snapshot and knowledge of some of the most common statistics in Worker’s Compensation. So if someone tells you that you shouldn’t become an engineer because of the dangers of the job you can actually let them know it is not near as risky for on the job injuries as many other fields. Of course, no matter where you work or what type of job site you are in, remember that accidents do happen, and you don’t see them coming. Being aware and being prepared can prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths. But when these things do occur, we, fortunately, have workers compensation insurance to provide assistance.