Top 10 workplace injuries: Liberty Mutual

American businesses are paying over $1 billion for non-fatal accidents on the job

Top 10 workplace injuries: Liberty Mutual

Workers Comp

By Will Koblensky

Every week American businesses pay over $1 billion for non-fatal accidents on the job, according to the 2017 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.

These serious but non-lethal incidents amount to $60 billion in direct workers’ compensation costs to US businesses per year.

Overexertion from outside work was the most common cause of the accidents, making up 23% of mishap origins and “includes injuries related to lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing objects.”

Falls, whether to the floor or the level below were the second and third most common causes followed by getting hit by an object or a piece of equipment.

“When it comes to managing risk in the workplace, knowledge is power,” the study said.

“Risk managers and safety practitioners make workplaces safer by identifying critical risk areas so that businesses can better allocate safety resources.”

The innocuously named “Other exertions or bodily reactions” was the fifth most likely problem Americans faced at work and the top five causes accounted for 64% of all accidents.

The remaining sources of suffering involved a vehicle, a trip without a fall, squeezed by equipment, stuck against equipment and continuous, repetitive tasks. 

“The top 10 causes comprising 83.4% or $49.92 billion of the total cost burden” sheds light on the lion’s share of direct workers’ compensation costs.


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