BLS Injury and Illness Data Provides Information on Employee Health and Safety Nationally

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released the Workplace Injury and Illness Summary for 2010. According to the BLS, there were 3.1 million nonfatal workplace injuries reported by private industry in 2010. The incidence rate of 3.5 per 100 equivalent full-time workers is down from a rate of 3.6 in 2009. Total recordable cases among private industry employees have declined significantly since 2002, the first time the report was published.

Manufacturing was the only sector to experience an increase in the rate of injury and illness in 2010–the manufacturing rate rose to 4.4 cases per 100 full time workers. The rise was primarily attributed to a drop in the numbers of hours worked, not an increase in the number of reported cases.

The construction industry saw a relatively large decrease in the number of reported cases. The rate of incidence decreased from 4.3 to 4.0, a 7 percent decline. The large rate of decline can be attributed to a decrease in incidence across all subsectors.

Health care and social services saw an increase in the number of hours worked, as well as an increase in the number of reported cases. 5.2 cases were reported per 100 workers, a decline from 5.4 in 2009.

Injuries accounted for 94.9 percent of all reported cases, while 5.1 percent were illnesses. This illness rate was almost identical to the recorded illness rate in 2009. Poisoning did, however, account for a larger share of reported worker illness in 2010 compared to 2009. You can find the entire report, along with analysis, at www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/osh.pdf.