• U.S. Workplace Injuries & Illnesses - 2011

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Nearly 3.0 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers in 2011, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.5 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, according to estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate reported for 2011 was unchanged for the first time in a decade during which the total recordable cases (TRC) injury and illness incidence rate among private industry employers declined significantly each year since 2002, when estimates from the SOII were first published using the current OSHA requirements for recording occupational injuries and illnesses. Key findings from the 2011 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: • The incidence rate of injury and illness cases involving job transfer or restriction only among private industry establishments declined in 2011. Rates remained unchanged from 2010 for all other case types--cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction together; cases with days away from work; and other recordable cases not requiring time away from work. • Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting was one of only two private industry sectors to experience an increase in the rate of injuries and illnesses in 2011 compared to 2010, driven by increases in cases in both the crop production and animal production (primarily dairy cattle and milk production) industries. The rate of injuries and illnesses for the accommodation and food services sector also rose in 2011, driven largely by an increase in other recordable cases in both limited-service restaurants and full-service restaurants. • Two private industry sectors experienced declines in the rate of injuries and illnesses in 2011 compared to 2010--health care and social assistance (driven by declines both in hospitals and in nursing and residential care facilities) and retail trade (with large declines in cases among supermarkets and other grocery stores and several other industries). • Manufacturing was the only private industry sector in 2011 in which the rate of job transfer or restriction only cases exceeded the rate of cases with days away from work. This continued a 14- year trend during which this was true. However, the rates for these two case types have been converging in recent years and differed by only 0.2 cases in 2011. • The incidence rate of injuries only among private industry workers declined to 3.3 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2011--down from 3.4 cases in 2010. In comparison, the incidence rate of illness cases was statistically unchanged in 2011. • The TRC rate among state and local government workers of 5.7 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2011 was unchanged from 2010, but was still significantly higher than the private industry rate. The incidence rates for state government and local government individually also remained unchanged in 2011--4.6 cases and 6.1 cases per 100 full-time workers, respectively.”\ Source: USDOL-BLS

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