December 5, 2007—Both the rate and the number of occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work decreased from 2005 to 2006, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the US Department of Labor.
The 2006 rate was 128 per 10,000 workers, a decrease of 6% from 2005. There were 1.2 million cases requiring days away from work in private industry, which represents a decrease of 51,180 cases (or 4%). Median days away from work—a key measure of the severity of the injury or illness—was 7 days in 2006, the same as the prior two years.
Key findings for 2006 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work include:
- Men had a days-away-from-work rate of 143 per 10,000 workers; the rate for women was 106 per 10,000 workers;
- Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants, had 49,480 days away from work cases and a rate of 526 per 10,000 workers, which was more than four times the total for all occupations;
- Three other occupations with more than 40,000 cases had rates above 400 per 10,000 workers: construction laborers (488); laborers and freight, stock, and material movers (466); and heavy and tractor- trailer truck drivers (411);
- Four out of ten days away from work cases were sprains or strains. Approximately one in five of these were suffered by laborers and freight, stock, and material movers; heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers; and nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants; and
- Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) accounted for 30 percent of the injuries and illnesses with days away from work, the same percentage as in 2005.
With the 2006 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), BLS added selected injury and illness rates by occupation, by gender, and by age group for cases with days away from work.
This report is the third in a series of three releases from the BLS covering occupational safety and health statistics in 2006. The first release, in August 2007, covered work-related fatalities from the 2006 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. In October 2007, BLS reported that there were 4.1 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses in 2006, based on the SOII. This final release covers the circumstances of the injuries and illnesses and the characteristics of the workers involved in the 1.2 million nonfatal cases that required days away from work to recuperate.
For more information visit BLS.
