April 6, 2005—The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that a total of 1.3 million injuries and illnesses in private industry required recuperation away from work beyond the day of the incident in 2003. The three occupations with the greatest number of injuries and illnesses were laborers and material movers; heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers; and nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants.
More than 40 percent of the injuries for both occupations were sprains or strains, often to the trunk or lower extremities. Heavy truck drivers also suffered a large portion of their injuries due to transportation accidents and falls.
Nursing aides and related workers predominantly suffered sprains and strains to their back related to lifting or moving patients.
Sprains and strains, most often involving the back, were the leading nature of injury or illness in every major industry sector in 2003, accounting for 43 percent of the incidents.
In goods-producing industries such as construction and manufacturing, which make up about 21 percent of private industry employment but account for 31 percent of the injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work, contact with objects and equipment—such as being struck by an object—was the most prevalent event.
In contrast, for service-providing industries, which make up 79 percent of private industry employment and account for 69 percent of the most severe injuries and illnesses, the leading causes of injuries and illnesses were overexertion—especially overexertion by lifting, falls on the same level, and contact with objects and equipment.
This is the third of three annual releases reporting on 2003 data from the BLS safety and health statistical series. The 2003 data was compiled for the first time using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and the Standard Occupational Classification Manual. For complete statistics on the Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by Selected Characteristics. To see the report, visit the BLS Web site.
