In 2015 there were approximately 2.9 million private workplace injuries in the US, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Obviously, any number of workplace injuries is too many. However, 2.9 million is an encouraging number because it is 48,000 injuries fewer than the year before. This is part of a 13 year trend of declining injury rates.
The smallest businesses (1-10 employees) consistently have the lowest rates of injury, while the middle-sized companies (50-249 employees) have the highest. Roughly half of the recorded injuries required days away from the job, and 75% of all injuries occurred in the service industries (as opposed to manufacturing).
Government workers have an annual injury rate of approximately 5 in 100, while private workers sit around 3 in 100.
Better strategies for following safety precautions are obviously helping to push the declining injury rate, but there are some great innovations and inventions by these businesses themselves that are also moving the trend along.
Exciting examples of this were awarded prizes at the Safety Congress and Expo in Columbus, Ohio this year, hosted by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC).