Serious workplace injuries cost U.S. companies $62 billion per year

Workplace injuries and accidents that cause employees to miss six or more days of work cost employers in the United States nearly US$62 billion in 2013, according to the 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.
The 10 leading causes of the most disabling work-related injuries account for more than US$51 billion, or 82.5 per cent of the total cost of US$62 billion. 

“Workplace accidents impact employees’ physical, emotional and financial well-being. They also financially burden employers, who pay all of the medical costs related to a workplace injury, together with some portion of an injured employee’s pay," said Debbie Michel, general manager, Liberty Mutual’s national insurance casualty operation. "Beside these direct costs, workplace injuries also produce such indirect costs for employers as hiring temporary employees, lost productivity, quality disruptions and damage to a company’s employee engagement and external reputation.”

Top 10 causes and direct costs of the most disabling U.S. workplace injuries (all figures in U.S. dollars) are:

•Overexertion involving outside source ($15.08 billion)
•Falls on same level ($10.17 billion)
•Falls to lower level ($5.4 billion)
•Struck by object or equipment ($5.31 billion)
•Other exertions or bodily reactions ($4.15 billion)
•Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle ($2.96 billion)
•Slip or trip without fall ($2.35 billion)
•Caught in/compressed by equipment or object ($1.97 billion)
•Struck against object or equipment ($1.85 billion)
•Repetitive motions involving micro-tasks ($1.82 billion).

Now in its 12th year, the study’s ranking of the top leading causes of the most serious workplace accidents is remarkably consistent with earlier findings.

"The annual Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index informs the national agenda on workplace safety,” said Ian Noy, director, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. “It also provides a key tool for individual companies to benchmark safety performance, and focus improvement efforts and resources on the most pressing areas.”

?The Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index is compiled based on information from Liberty Mutual, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Liberty Mutual researchers examine BLS injury data to determine which events caused employees to miss six or more days of work, and then rank those events by total workers compensation costs.