Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work, 2006

Technical Information: (202) 691-6170 USDL 07-1741

Media information: (202) 691-5902 For release: 10:00 A.M. EST

Internet address: http://www.bls.gov/iif/home.htm Thursday, November 8, 2007

NONFATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND ILLNESSES

REQUIRING DAYS AWAY FROM WORK, 2006

Both the rate and the number of occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days

away from work decreased from 2005 to 2006, according to the Bureau of Labor

Statistics, U.S. Department Labor. The 2006 rate was 128 per 10,000 workers, a decrease

of 6 percent from 2005. There were 1.2 million cases requiring days away from work in

private industry, which represented a decrease of 51,180 cases (or 4 percent). 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:

- 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).

- Men had a days-away-from-work rate of 143 per 10,000 workers; the rate for

women was 106 per 10,000 workers.

- 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.

- Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) accounted for 30 percent of the injuries and

illnesses with days away from work, the same percentage as in 2005.

***********************************************************************************************

* New Rates by Occupation, Gender, and Age group *

* 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. Occupational estimates are available at the detailed occupation level *

* for the Nation and at the occupational group level for the Nation and States. In addition, *

* rates are available by gender, age group, and occupation for selected case characteristics. *

***********************************************************************************************

This release 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 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. 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.

Case characteristics

Case characteristics provide detailed information on the circumstances of nonfatal

workplace injuries and illnesses that required one or more days away from work. The

survey uses four case characteristics—nature, part of body, source, and event or

exposure—to describe a workplace incident.

A nursing aide sprains her back from overexertion in lifting a health care patient.

------- ---- ----------------------- -------------------

| | | |

(nature) (part of body) (event or exposure) (source)

* Sprains and strains was the leading nature of injury and illness in every major

industry sector (see table 5). These injuries decreased by 6 percent for total private

industry in 2006 and for both goods-producing and service-providing industries.

Trade, transportation, and utilities reported 157,380 sprains and strains, 33 percent of

the total.

* The overall number of cases of carpal tunnel syndrome decreased by 21 percent.

Workers on the job 5 years or more had a decrease of 27 percent for these kinds of

illnesses.

* The part of the body most affected by work incidents was the trunk (including the

shoulder and back) accounting for 34 percent of all cases. Cases involving the trunk

decreased by 6 percent from 2005. Injuries and illnesses to the back made up

62 percent of the days-away-from-work cases involving the trunk.

* Floors, walkways, and ground surfaces were the source of injury or illness for

18 percent of all days-away-from-work cases. Worker motion or position accounted

for 14 percent.

* Assaults and violent acts (by person) increased by 10 percent, with those to women

increasing 21 percent to 10,400 cases. Sixty percent of the assaults and violent acts

(by person) occurred in health care and social assistance and mainly involved assaults

by health care patients.

* Injuries and illnesses due to repetitive motion decreased by 13 percent.

* Falls from a ladder decreased by 17 percent.

In addition to these four case characteristics, BLS collects the time of day and day

of the week the injury or illness occurred and the time the employee had spent on the job

before the incident.

* Of the injuries and illnesses with days away from work (for which the time of the

incident was reported), the eight-hour period from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. accounted

for 65 percent of the cases in 2006. The 4:00 p.m. to midnight time period accounted

for 20 percent of the cases.

* In those cases where employers reported how long the employee had been on the job

before the incident occurred, workers on the job from two to four hours incurred the

highest number of injuries and illnesses (248,980 or 26 percent). Employees on the

job for more than eight hours accounted for 12 percent of cases.

* Eighty-seven percent of injuries and illnesses occurred on Monday through Friday.

The exception to this pattern was the leisure and hospitality sector, where 27 percent

of injuries and illnesses occurred during the weekend.

Demographic characteristics

Demographic characteristics include gender, age, race or ethnic origin, and length

of service with the employer at the time of the incident (see tables 1, 2, and 8). For 2006,

BLS has new incidence rate data for gender and age group (see tables 16-19).

* Men accounted for 66 percent of all days-away-from-work cases, and had an

incidence rate (143 per 10,000 workers) 35 percent higher than the rate of 106 for

women.

* Injuries and illnesses to Asian workers increased by 16 percent from 2005, while the

other ethnic groups experienced declines in workplace incidents. Race or ethnicity

was unreported in 32 percent of days-away-from-work cases.

* The number of injuries and illnesses to Hispanic workers in the construction and

extraction occupations (34,170) increased 7 percent from 2005.

* Workers who were 20 to 44 years old accounted for 60 percent of injured and ill

workers. Within that age range, workers age 20 to 24 had a rate of 143 per

10,000 workers, higher than the rate of 128 for all workers.

* The number of days away from work rose with the age of the worker from a median

of 1 day for workers 14- and 15-years old to a median of 15 days for workers 65 and

older.

Occupation

Among major occupational groups, transportation and material moving

occupations had the highest rate at 301 per 10,000 workers and 239,710 injuries and

illnesses requiring days away from work in 2006. Computer and mathematical

occupations had the lowest rate, 11 (see table 16). The rate for all occupations was 128.

Three occupations at the detail level had incidence rates over 1,000 per

10,000 workers: Athletes and sports competitors (1,720), Psychiatric aides (1,067), and

Mining roof bolters (1,018). Rates this high indicate that at least one in ten workers in

these three occupations experienced an injury or illness requiring days away from work

in 2006. These occupations, however, did not have a high number of cases and, like

some other occupations with small numbers of workers, are not listed in the tables of this

news release.

The five occupations that have the highest number of days away from work cases were:

* Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers experienced the highest number of

days-away-from-work injuries and illnesses, 85,120 in 2006; however, this represents

a decrease of 8 percent from 2005. This occupation had a rate of 466 per

10,000 workers. Eighty-four percent of these injuries and illnesses were to men.

Sixty-five percent of the total cases for this occupation were in the trade,

transportation and utilities industry.

* Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had 66,040 cases in 2006, relatively the same

as in 2005, and had a days-away-from-work rate of 411 per 10,000 workers. Ninety-

five percent of these cases were to men. The source of the injury was most often

vehicles, followed by floor or ground surfaces. The most frequent event was

overexertion, followed by contact with objects and equipment. As in 2005, the

median days away from work was 14 days, twice that for all occupations.

* Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants—with more injuries and illnesses to women

(91 percent) than to men—had 49,480 cases, a decrease of 5 percent from 2005. This

occupation had a high incidence rate—526 per 10,000 workers. Fifty-six percent of

the injuries and illnesses to these workers involved health care patients, of which

86 percent were due to overexertion.

* Construction laborers had the fourth highest number of cases with 40,510 and a rate

of 488 per 10,000 workers. Ninety-seven percent of these injuries and illnesses were

to men. Contact with objects or equipment was the most common event in this

occupation and the most frequent source of injury was parts and materials.

* Retail salespersons had 33,210 cases, remaining unchanged from 2005. Floors and

walkways were the most frequent source of injury. The rate of injury and illness for

this occupation was 106, 17 percent below the private-sector average.

As in 2005, eleven detailed occupations, including the five discussed above, each

had more than 20,000 injuries and illnesses with days away from work. Together they

accounted for 36 percent of all cases (see table 4). These same eleven occupations have

had more than 20,000 cases in each of the last three years.

Industry

Workers in the goods-producing industries experienced 380,440 injuries and

illnesses with days away from work and had an incidence rate of 167 per 10,000 workers

in 2006. Service-providing industry workers experienced 803,060 days away from work

injuries and illnesses and had a rate of 115.

Natural resources and mining had a median number of days away from work of 9.

In this sector, the mining industry had a median of 17 days. Hispanic workers

experienced 66 percent of injuries and illnesses in agriculture, forestry, and fishing,

compared to 20 percent of all days-away-from-work cases in private industry. The

overall rate for this industry sector was 170 per 10,000 workers.

Construction had the highest incidence rate—220 per 10,000 workers—of all

industry sectors but had the fourth highest case count (153,180). The rate decreased

8 percent from 2005. Men experienced 97 percent of the injuries and illnesses. The

construction industry’s rate of 84 for contact with objects and equipment was more than

twice the rate for total private industry.

Manufacturing had a rate of 141 per 10,000 workers and had 200,970 cases

resulting from days away from work. Workers in this industry were most often injured

by contact with objects and equipment (76,400). The number of cases involving

repetitive motion (14,670) remained about the same in 2006 compared to 2005. Workers

who had 5 or more years of service with their employer experienced a significant decline

in the number injuries and illnesses from the previous year (8 percent). Workers with

less than 5 years had relatively no change in the number of cases from 2005.

Trade, transportation, and utilities had the greatest number of injuries and

illnesses (354,510) with a rate of 160 per 10,000 workers. Women experienced

28 percent of the injuries and illnesses in this sector as a whole, but within retail trade

they experienced 41 percent of the cases. The transportation and warehousing industry

had a median number of days away from work of 15. The utilities industry had a median

of 14 days away from work, while wholesale and retail trade industries each had medians

of 7 days.

Information had a rate of injuries and illnesses of 67 per 10,000 workers. Fifty-six

percent of the injuries and illnesses to workers in this industry sector occurred to

those who had been with their employer for more than 5 years, compared to 31 percent

for all service–providing industries.

Financial activities had 33,300 days-away-from-work cases and a rate of 45 per

10,000 workers in 2006. Sprains and strains was the leading nature of injury and illness

with 13,210 cases. The part of body most often injured was the back with 7,180 cases.

Professional and business services had no change in the overall number of cases

that required days away from work or the incidence rate for those cases when compared

to 2005. However, cases involving contact with objects, the leading event or exposure of

injury in this industry, rose 15 percent to 25,260. The number of carpal tunnel syndrome

cases in this industry (790) has decreased by two thirds since 2003 including a 50 percent

decrease from 2005 to 2006.

Education and health services also had no change in the overall number of cases

or the incidence rate for those cases when compared to 2005. In this sector, healthcare

and social assistance accounted for 94 percent of injuries and illnesses. There were

nearly four times the number of injuries and illnesses to women (145,370) than to men

(36,800).

Leisure and hospitality had 96,910 injuries and illnesses requiring days away

from work in 2006, with a rate of 114 per 10,000 workers. Employers in this industry

reported nearly equal numbers of injuries and illnesses to men and women. The number

of assaults and violent acts (1,690) increased 48 percent from last year. Asian workers

experienced an 86 percent increase in the number of injuries and illnesses in this industry.

Musculoskeletal disorders

The U.S. Department of Labor defines a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) as an

injury or disorder of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, or spinal discs. MSDs

do not include disorders caused by slips, trips, falls, motor vehicle accidents, or similar

accidents. In 2006 there were 357,160 MSD cases. MSD cases had a median of 9 days

away from work, two days longer than the median for all days away from work cases.

The overall rate for all MSD cases was 39 per 10,000 workers in 2006.

The trade, transportation and utilities sector had 34 percent of the MSD cases

followed by the education and health services sector with 20 percent, the vast majority of

these in health care and social assistance (69,880). The manufacturing sector had

18 percent of the MSD cases. MSDs in manufacturing decreased by 6 percent from 2005

to 2006, while MSDs for all private industry decreased by 5 percent.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

| Table A. Number, incidence rate, and median days of work-related musculoskeletal disorders that |

| required days away from work by selected industry sectors, 2006 |

| |

| Number Incidence Rate Median days |

| away from work |

| |

| Total Musculoskeletal disorders 357,160 39 9 || |

| Goods-producing industries 103,750 46 10 |

| Manufacturing 64,760 46 11 |

| Service-providing industries 253,410 36 8 |

| Trade, transportation and utilities 119,770 54 11 |

| Education and health services 72,020 55 6 | |___________________________________________________________________________________________________|

Men had 62 percent of the MSD cases and an incidence rate of 41 per

10,000 workers. Women had 37 percent of the MSD cases and an incidence rate of 35

(see table B). MSDs to workers age 25 and over decreased with the exception of MSDs

to workers age 55 to 64 which increased by 4 percent. MSDs to workers age 65 and over

decreased by 13 percent in 2006 after an increase of 19 percent in 2005.

The three occupations with the highest number of MSDs in 2006 were laborers

and freight, stock, and material movers; nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants; and

heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers. These occupations had high rates of MSDs (see

table B), with nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants reporting the highest rate—293 per

10,000 workers.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

| Table B. Number, incidence rate, and median days of work-related musculoskeletal disorders |

| that required days away from work by gender, age groups, and selected occupations, 2006 |

| |

| Number Incidence Rate Median days |

| away from work |

| |

| Total Musculoskeletal disorders 357,160 39 9 |

| |

| Gender |

| Men 222,880 41 10 |

| Women 133,710 35 8 |

| |

| Age Group |

| 14 - 15 20 -- 10 |

| 16 - 19 7,620 26 5 |

| 20 - 24 33,350 36 5 |

| 25 - 34 80,530 38 7 |

| 35 - 44 101,830 44 9 |

| 45 - 54 86,130 40 13 |

| 55 - 64 38,970 36 14 |

| 65 and over 4,660 20 16 |

| |

| Occupation |

| Laborers and freight, stock, and material |

| movers, hand 28,860 158 9 |

| Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants 27,590 293 5 |

| Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer 17,400 108 14 |

| Retail salesperson 11,280 36 10 |

| Registered nurses 9,200 59 6 |

| Truck drivers, light and delivery services 8,890 99 14 |

| Janitors and cleaners, except maids and |

| housekeeping cleaners 8,630 76 9 |

| Stock clerks and order fillers 8,610 69 8 |

| Construction laborers 8,270 100 10 |

| Maintenance and repair workers, general 6,870 70 6 |

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________|

Injury and Illness Severity

In addition to providing data on the number of injuries and illnesses that require

days away from work to recuperate, the survey provides data on the length of the

absences resulting from those injuries and illnesses (see tables 8-12 and 15). Median

days away from work—the key survey measure of severity—designates the point at

which half the cases involved more days and half involved fewer days.

The median number of days away from work for all cases was 7 days in 2006,

unchanged since 2004. Almost one-fourth of all days-away-from-work cases resulted in

31 or more days away from work. The median for goods-producing industries (8 days)

was higher than that for service-providing industries (7 days).

* Fractures resulted in the longest absences (28 days) from work among the leading

natures of injury and illness. Carpal tunnel syndrome had 27 days and amputations

had 22 median days away from work, both unchanged from 2005.

* Repetitive motion resulted in the longest absences from work among the most

frequent events or exposures with 19 days away from work, unchanged from 2005.

Falls to lower level had 14 days, twice the 2006 median for all cases. Fires and

explosions and transportation accidents each had a median of 10 days. The median

for transportation accidents was unchanged but the median for fires and explosions

decreased from the 16 days reported in 2005.

* Floors, walkways, and ground surfaces were the sources that resulted in the longest

absences from work, with a median of 11 days, followed closely by worker motion or

position (10 days) and vehicles (9 days).

* Injuries and illnesses to the shoulder resulted in the longest absences from work, with

a median of 16 days, followed by the wrist and knee each with a median of 14 days.

* Workers age 65 and over experienced the longest absences from work with a median

of 15 days followed by workers age 55 to 64 with 12 days and workers age 45 to 54

with 10 days.

* Among detailed occupations with high numbers of days-away-from-work cases,

heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had the highest median days away from work

with 14 days. Driver/sales workers had the second highest median with 11 days,

followed closely by carpenters and light or delivery truck drivers with a median of

10 days.

Background of the Survey

Since the early 1970s, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported annually

on the number and the rate of injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work

beyond the day of the incident in private industry. The 2006 Survey of Occupational

Injuries and Illnesses marks the fifteenth year that BLS has also provided detailed

information on the circumstances of these cases and the characteristics of the injured or

ill worker.

Data in this release are classified based on the 2002 North American Industry

Classification System (NAICS), the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

Manual, and 1997 Standards for Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, as defined by the

Office of Management and Budget (OMB). More information on each of these

classification systems is available on the OMB Internet site at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/statpolicy.html. Race and ethnicity is the only

data element in the survey for which reporting is not mandatory. In 2006, 32 percent of

the cases were missing race and ethnicity.

For each incident that led to an injury or illness that required one or more days

away from work to recuperate, the survey uses four characteristics to describe the

circumstances of the case. These characteristics are classified using the Occupational

Injury and Illness Classification System. (See the Manual on the BLS Internet site at

http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshoiics.htm.) These four characteristics are:

* nature – the physical characteristics of the disabling injury or illness, such as

cuts/lacerations, fractures, or sprains/strains;

* part of body affected – the part of body directly linked to the nature of injury or

illness cited, such as back, finger, or eye;

* event or exposure – the manner in which the injury or illness was produced or

inflicted, such as falls, overexertion, or repetitive motion; and

* source – the object, substance, exposure, or bodily motion that directly produced or

inflicted the disabling condition, such as chemicals, vehicles, or machinery.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) include cases where the nature of the injury or

illness is sprains, strains, tears; back pain, hurt back; soreness, pain, hurt, except the back;

carpal tunnel syndrome; hernia; or musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases

and disorders, when the event or exposure leading to the injury or illness is bodily

reaction/bending, climbing, crawling, reaching, twisting; overexertion; or repetition.

Cases of Raynaud’s phenomenon, tarsal tunnel syndrome, and herniated spinal discs are

not included. Although they may be considered MSDs, the survey classifies these

injuries and illnesses in categories that also include non-MSD cases.

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses is a Federal/State program in

which employer reports were collected from about 195,200 private industry

establishments in 2006 and processed by State agencies cooperating with the BLS. The

survey measures only nonfatal injuries and illnesses and excludes the self-employed,

farms with fewer than 11 employees, private households, Federal government agencies,

and, for national estimates, employees in State and local government agencies.

The employers, who are selected to participate in the survey, provide data on

injuries and illnesses based on logs and other records they maintain during the year.

These records reflect not only the year’s injury and illness experience, but also

employers’ understanding of which cases are work related under the recordkeeping rules

promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of

Labor. Data for coal, metal, and nonmetal mining and for railroad activities were

provided by the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration and the

Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration, respectively.

The survey estimates the characteristics of cases with days away from work based

on two levels of sampling. First, BLS scientifically selects a probability sample of

establishments from among those covered by the survey. Then establishments in the

survey that are projected to have a large number of days–away-from-work cases are

instructed on how to sample those cases to minimize the burden of their response.

Because the estimates are based on a sample survey, they probably differ from the

figures that would be obtained from a census of all units covered by the survey. Standard

errors were calculated to determine the precision of each estimate from the survey and

will be available on the BLS Internet site at http://www.bls.gov/iif/home.htm. They are

used to provide a range around the estimate in which the figure from a census is likely to

be. All findings in this release have been tested and found to be statistically significant at

the 95-percent confidence level. Visit http://www.bls.gov/iif/osh_rse.htm for more

information about relative standard errors.

Data from the survey also are subject to nonsampling error. Examples of these

errors are: the inability to obtain information about all cases in the sample; mistakes or

gaps in recording or coding the data; and difficulties in understanding survey definitions.

Although not measured, nonsampling error always occurs when statistics are gathered.

However, BLS has quality assurance procedures to reduce nonsampling error in the

survey, including a rigorous training program for coders and efforts to identify and

explore sources of nonsampling error and their potential magnitude.

The number of hours worked used for industry and case characteristics incidence

rates are collected in the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. The survey does

not collect hours worked by occupation or demographic characteristics. The hours

worked data used for rates by occupation, gender, and age group (which are available for

the first time with this release of 2006 data) come from two BLS programs—the

Occupational Employment Statistics program and from the Current Population Survey,

which is conducted for BLS by the Bureau of the Census.

Because of space limitations, this release does not present all the publishable

estimates and rates for days-way-from-work cases. Additional detailed data are available

from BLS staff on 202-691-6170, iifstaff@bls.gov, and the BLS Internet site at

http://www.bls.gov/iif/home.htm.

Text version of entire news release

Last Modified Date: November 08, 2007

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Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Requiring Days Away From Work, 2006

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