Non-Fatal Workplace Injuries at Nearly $60B Annually in Direct Workers’ Comp Costs

Non-Fatal Workplace Injuries at Nearly $60B Annually in Direct Workers’ Comp Costs

The 2017 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index was recently released, indicating that serious, nonfatal workplace injuries now amount to nearly $60 billion in direct U.S. Workers’ Compensation costs per year. This means that more than $1 billion dollars a week are being spent by businesses on these injuries, which include everything from overexertion to slips and falls, vehicular accidents, among others.

What are the top causes of injury in the workplace driving up Workers’ Compensation spending? The top five injury causes are as follows and accounted for 63.8% of the total cost burden for businesses:

  • Overexertion involving outside sources ranked first among the leading causes of disabling injury. This event category, which includes injuries related to lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing objects, cost businesses $13.79 billion in direct costs and accounted for 23% of the overall national burden. This is particularly important to note in the home health care industry, which has a high rate of injuries related to lifting patients.
  • Falls on the same level ranked second with direct costs of $10.62 billion and accounted for 17.7% of the total injury burden.
  • Falls to a lower level ranked third at $5.50 billion and 9.2% of the burden.
  • Struck by object or equipment ranked fourth at $4.43 billion and 7.4%.
  • Other exertions or bodily reactions ranked fifth at $3.89 billion and 6.5% of the total injury burden.

The remaining five injury causes combined accounted for 19.5% of the total direct cost of disabling injuries. These included: roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle  ($3.7 billion); slip or trip without fall ($2.3 billion); caught in/compressed by equipment or objects ($1.95 billion); struck against objects or equipment ($1.94 billion); and repetitive motions involving micro-tasks ($1.81 billion).

Direct costs of all disabling work-related injuries equaled $59.87 billion, with the top 10 causes comprising 83.4% – or $49.92 billion – of the total cost burden to employers.

About Caitlin Morgan

At Caitlin Morgan, we provide a number of Workers’ Compensation insurance solutions for a broad spectrum of clients and industry sectors. We can provide assistance in providing guaranteed cost coverage backed by our staff that has years of underwriting, claims management and loss prevention experience to help clients with mitigating on-the-job injuries and keeping premiums in line. We provide multi-state quotes and quick turnaround to assist in supporting your ability to get the business. In addition, we also offer large-deductible programs and can assist with a self-insurance plan for clients whose risk profile fits within this option. For more information about our Workers’ Compensation insurance programs, contact us at 877.226.1027.