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Safety Records Improve, U.S. Study Shows |
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A sharpened focus on safety and a shift in the economy have resulted in a steady decrease in workplace injuries and illnesses in the past decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). A total of 5.7 million such cases were reported in private industry workplaces in 2000. This resulted in a rate of 6.1 cases per every 100 full-time-equivalent workers, the lowest rate since the BLS began reporting this information in the early 1970s.
U.S. AASCIF members’ home states that participated in the survey have all witnessed a general decrease in the rate of nonfatal occupational injury and illness rates. In some states the decrease has been dramatic in just the past five years. Loss control representatives attribute their improved success partly to a change in their mission from enforcement to consulting. (See AASCIF News, Spring 2002.) They now spend more time advising policyholders how to avoid injuries, rather than focusing primarily on detection of safety code violations. Experts also attribute part of the decline to a shift in employment from heavy production sectors to service industries.
Of the 5.7 million cases, 5.3 million were injuries. Mid-size firms employing 50 to 249 workers generally experienced higher injury rates than smaller or larger establishments. There were approximately 362,500 newly reported cases of occupational illnesses in private industry. Manufacturing accounted for nearly three-fifths of these cases. In cases causing lost time from work during 2000, BLS figures show that repetitive motion injuries caused a median of 19 days away from work, followed by falls to lower level (11 days), transportation accidents (10 days), fires and explosions (nine), falls on same level (seven), slips or trips without falls (seven), over-exertion (seven) assaults and violent acts (five), contact with objects and equipment (four), and harmful substances (three). New York experienced just 3.9 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2000. According to the Albany Business Review, this represented a 14.2 percent decrease in the past five years, and reflected a decline of 9,000 cases from 1999 despite an increase of more than 100,000 people in the workforce. New York’s injury and illness incidence rate was the lowest among the 41 states that participated in the BLS survey in 2000. The Baltimore Sun reported that, due to increased health care costs resulting in higher insurance premiums, heavy-industry employers are providing their workers with tools to prevent injuries, such as back belts for lifting, tough Kevlar gloves for butchers, and box cutters with guards on the blades. Download complete newsletter in PDF format
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By
Patrick Andersen, AASCIF News Editor
