Disabling Workplace Injuries Cost
Industry $49 Billion in 2008
The most disabling workplace
injuries and illnesses cost an estimated $48.6 billion per year,
according to the 2008 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.
Between 1998 and 2006, the costs
of repetitive motion injuries showed the most significant decline
(down 35.3 percent), and the costs of fall on same level and fall to
lower level each showed overall cost increases
of 17.9, followed by struck against
object, which increased by 16.2 percent.
Produced annually, the Workplace Safety
Index identifies the leading causes of the
most disabling U.S. workplace injuries
based on data reported from 1998 (the baseline
year for Workplace Safety Index data)
through the most recent year for which data are available – in this case 2006.
The 2008 Index also captures cost trends
for the overall and leading causes of the most
disabling injuries from 1998 through 2006,
with “most disabling” defined as those injuries
that cause an employee to miss six or
more days from work.
To develop the 2008 Index, researchers
applied Liberty Mutual 2006 workers’ compensation
claims costs to the workplace in jury frequency information reported by the
U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics
for injuries occurring that year. The
relative proportions of each injury type were
then applied to the national estimates of the
cost of workers’ compensation benefits from
the National Academy of Social Insurance,
which includes information from a broad
range of insurance providers.
The top 10 causes of the most disabling
work-related injuries were similar to prior
years, with some shifting among the bottom
five categories. Overexertion maintained
its first place ranking. This event
category, which includes injuries related to
lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying,
or throwing, accounted for more than one quarter
of the overall national burden at
25.7 percent. In 2006, these injuries cost
businesses $12.4 billion in direct costs.
Falls on same level ranked second as a
leading cause of disabling injury. In 2006
this category claimed direct costs of $6.4 billion
and accounted for 13.3 percent of the
U.S. injury burden.
For the second consecutive year, fall to
lower level claimed the third-place ranking
(moving ahead of bodily reaction) with $5.3
billion in direct costs, and 10.8 percent of
total injury burden.
Ranked fourth was bodily reaction, which
includes injuries resulting from an incident
of free bodily motion (such as bending,
climbing, reaching, standing, sitting, or slipping
or tripping without falling). Injuries in
this category comprised 10 percent of the
total injury burden at $4.8 billion.
Struck by object maintained its fifth place
ranking, accounting for 8.9 percent of the
total injury cost burden at $4.3 billion.
The remaining five injury event categories,
which together accounted for less
than 20 percent of the direct cost of disabling
injuries in 2006, shifted slightly
from prior years. Struck against object
moved up to sixth place (from eighth place
in 2005), claiming 5.1 percent of the total
injury burden and $2.5 billion in costs.
Highway incidents dropped into seventh
place (from sixth in 2005) claiming 4.9 percent
of the total injury burden and costing
industry $2.4 billion. Caught in/compressed
by (injuries resulting from workers being
caught in or compressed by equipment or
objects) ranked eighth in 2006 (from ninth
place in 2005). This category claimed 4.4
percent of the total injury burden and cost
industry $2.1 billion in direct costs.
The repetitive motion category dropped to ninth rank this year (from seventh place
in 2005). This category, which has had the
most significant drops of any category over
the nine years of Index reporting, captured
four percent of the total injury burden and
cost industry $2 billion in 2006 (as compared
to 1998 when repetitive motion was ranked
fifth and comprised 6.3 percent of the total
U.S. injury burden).
Lastly, assaults and violent acts maintained
its tenth place ranking, capturing less
than 1 percent (.9) of the total injury burden
and costing industry $0.4 billion in direct
workers compensation costs.
Overall, these 10 categories produced 87.9
percent of the entire cost burden of disabling
work-related injuries in 2006.
New Standard in Works to Protect
Wind Turbine Facilities Workers
Due to the growing national
emphasis on ‘green’ energy development and the potential risks
involved in green energy related construction operations, the
American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) has announced a new A10
Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) standard project to protect
workers involved in operations for wind generation/
turbine facilities.
“The committee decided to develop this
standard (the “American National Standard
for the Safe Construction and Demolition
of Wind Generation/Turbine Facilities” because
of the national emphasis on green energy,
recognizing that thousands of these
‘green’ structures are going to be built and
as such present challenging safety and
health issues,” said A10 Committee Chair
Richard King. “The purpose of the new
standard is to sort out the safety and health
issues and provide practical solutions to
constructors.”
During the January 2009 A10 ASC meeting,
the committee approved the A10.21 subgroup
to develop the standard. Ryan J.
Jacobson, P.E., manager of wind energy services
for Black & Veatch, will serve as the
subgroup chair’ and Walter A. Jones, M.S.,
associate director, occupational safety and
health for Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund
of North America, will serve as the A10.21
liaison.
Safety and health issues of concern during
construction and demolition of wind generation/turbine facilities that the
A10.21 subgroup will address in the development
of the standard include working
at heights, mechanical assembly of
large components, medium voltage electrical
safety, and working in exposed environments.
The subgroup will cite and
recognize other existing voluntary national
consensus standards in the development
process.
In addition, major construction tasks in a
wind project that will be considered include:
wind turbine assembly and erection; civil
construction (roads and pad clearing); structural
construction (foundations); placement
of electrical collection system (buried
medium voltage lines); and substation and
transmission line construction.
Major activities that will also be discussed
include: wind turbine generator component
offloading; site staging; base tower
section placement, which could include anchor
bolt tensioning, leveling and grouting;
tower assembly; nacelle placement; rotor assembly
(typically on the ground); rotor
placement; and mechanical completion and
commissioning.
