This article Reprinted from Western Roofing magazine, March/April 2007, Volume 30, number 2

Worker Safety

On the Job Injuries, as Seen through the Eyes of the Feds

We recently received the 2005 On-the-Job Injury numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and there were few surprises. Before I start editorializing about work-related injuries, I want to say right up front that I know that even one injury sustained while trying to earn a living is one too many and that each person is a human being, not just a statistic. I realize that for every person that is injured, there are families and loved ones involved that will have to cope and deal with the problem. However, the BLS compiled this information in chart form reducing these injuries down to numbers and percentages, not me, so that’s the way I’ll treat them for this editorial. If your spouse lost a leg while trying to teach retarded bears to climb trees, I’m sorry for your family, but on this page, that injury is just another number. And if you’re upset about my using the word “retarded” rather than a more politically correct synonym like “mentally-challenged,” “special-person,” or “government-employee,” then I guess you should switch to decaf.

Now back to the jobsite. The rate of workplace injuries and illness that required an employee in the private sector to take one or more days off dropped 4% to 1.2 million, according to the BLS. Including government jobs, there were 4.2 million injuries for the same period. So which is safer, working for the government or working in the private sector? You do the math. Maybe the feds should clean their own house first before releasing OSHA on contractors.

Not surprising, 40% of those injured involved sprains or strains resulting from over-exertion or falling. More than a third of these sprains or stains occurred in the trade, transportation and utilities industries. Three occupations: laborers and material movers; truck drivers; and nursing aides and attendants, accounted for 20% of all sprains and injuries.

Also not surprising, the most dangerous time of the workweek is Monday, between the hours of 8:00 am and noon. Any contractor could have told the feds that fact. Riding an ATV across the desert over the weekend may not be a strain on the body, but after an hour of work the following Monday morning, suddenly Bubba’s back just can’t take the exertion.

All construction trades combines accounted for 157,070 injuries out of the 1,234,680, or about 13%. Of the total construction injuries, 54,490 (35%) were sprains or strains, by far the biggest category. Of that number, 30,190 involved back injuries. Perhaps we need to go back to Safety 101 and talk about proper lifting procedures.

Men accounted for twice as many of the injuries as women. This could be due to the fact that there are way more than twice as many men in jobs requiring physical exertion than women, but then again, it could be just a coincidence.

So what type of worker in the construction industry is most likely person to have a work-related injury? Accord to the BLS (these are their stats, not mine), a white male between the ages of 25 and 34 who has been on the job between one and five years is the most likely candidate for injury. Sound like a good percentage of your workforce? Then that’s probably why they’re involved in most of the accidents. Funny how that works.

Marc Dodson

editor & publisher

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