2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index

According to the 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, the most disabling, nonfatal workplace injuries amounted to nearly $62 billion in direct U.S. workers compensation costs. This translates into more than a billion dollars a week spent by businesses on these injuries.

Top 10 Injury Causes:

Overexertion involving outside sources ranked first among the leading causes of disabling injury. This event category, which includes injuries related to lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing objects, cost businesses $15.08 billion in direct costs and accounted for nearly a

quarter of the overall national burden. Falls on same level ranked second with direct costs of $10.17 billion and accounted for 16.4 percent of the total injury burden. Falls to a lower level ranked third at $5.4 billion and 8.7 percent of the burden, and struck by object or equipment ranked fourth at $5.31 billion and 8.6 percent. Other exertions or bodily reactions ranked fifth at $4.15 billion and 6.7 percent of the total injury burden. These top five injury causes accounted for 64.8 percent of the total cost burden.

The remaining five injury causes combined accounted for 17.7 percent of the total direct cost of disabling injuries.  These included: roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle; slip or trip without fall; caught in/compressed by equipment or objects; struck against objects or equipment; and repetitive motions involving micro-tasks.

Direct costs of all disabling work-related injuries equaled $61.88 billion, with the top 10 causes comprising 82.5 percent — or $51.06 billion of the total cost burden.

Source: Liberty Mutual Insurance