Workers’ Compensation Statistics

• The industries with the highest percentage of accidents are: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (20%); Education and Health Services (16%); and Manufacturing (14%).
• Sprain and strain injuries (39,872) accounted for 43 percent of the total cases reported in Fiscal Year 2004/05. Cuts, lacerations and punctures accounted for 10.2% of the injuries; contusions, crushes and bruises accounted for 12.7%.
• Injuries to arms, wrists, hands, fingers and shoulders accounted for over 30.3 percent (29,660) of the total cases reported in FY 2004/05. Back injuries alone (17,780) represented over 18.1 percent of the cases. Injuries to legs and fingers represented 16.9 percent of the total.
• Industry divisions with the highest number of work-related fatalities were: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (29%); Construction (25%); and Manufacturing (16%).
• Every day, approximately 15 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries and illnesses and another 15,600 are injured.
• A total of 5,703 fatal work injuries were recorded in the United States in 2004.
• In 2000, more than 5.7 million injuries and illnesses were reported in private sector workplaces.
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor, a total of 1.3 million injuries and illnesses in private industry required recuperation away from work beyond the day of the incident in 2004.
• According to the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, about 4.3 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported in private industry workplaces during 2004.