Injuries that resulted in workers missing six or more days of work incurred $51.1 billion in direct workers’ compensation costs in 2010. This is flat with the previous year and down steadily since 2001. Liberty Mutual’s Research Institute for Safety has released its 2012 Workplace Safety Index, which reports that the following top five injury causes accounted for 73.1% of that total:
1. Overexertion (includes injuries related to lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying, or throwing)
- 2010: $13.61 billion
- 2009: $12.75 billion
2. Fall on same level
- 2010: $8.61 billion
- 2009: $7.94 billion
3. Bodily reaction (includes injuries related to bending, climbing, reaching, standing, slipping, and tripping without falling)
- 2010: $5.78 billion
- 2009: $5.28 billion
4. Fall to lower level
- 2010: $5.12 billion
- 2009: $5.35 billion
5. Struck by object
- 2010: $4.10 billion
- 2009: $4.64 billion
Remaining Injury Causes
The following categories each accounted for less than 5% of total direct costs in 2010:
6. Struck against object ($2.11 billion)
7. Repetitive motion ($2.02 billion)
8. Highway incident ($1.99 billion)
9. Caught in/compressed by injuries ($1.79 billion)
10. Assault/violent act injuries ($0.64 billion).
