The just-released 2014 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index shows that the most disabling workplace injuries and illnesses in 2012 amounted to nearly $60 billion in direct U.S. workers’ compensation costs. This translates into over a billion dollars a week spent by businesses on the most disabling injuries.
In its 15th year, the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index provides an annual ranking of the top 10 causes of serious, nonfatal workplace injuries based on information from Liberty Mutual, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the National Academy of Social Insurance. Researchers at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety examine BLS injury data to determine which events caused an employee to miss six or more days of work and then rank those events by total workers compensation costs.
According to the latest Workplace Safety Index, the 10 leading causes*, and direct costs, of the most disabling workplace injuries in 2012, included:
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Overexertion involving outside source - $15.1 billion
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Falls on same level - $9.19 billion
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Struck by object or equipment - $5.3 billion
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Falls to lower level - $5.12 billion
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Other exertions or bodily reactions - $4.27 billion
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Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicle - $3.18 billion
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Slip or trip without fall - $2.17 billion
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Caught in/compressed by equipment or objects - $2.1 billion
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Repetitive motions involving micro-tasks - $1.84 billion
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Struck against object or equipment - $1.76 billion
* 2-Digit Bureau of Labor Statistics Event
Reproduced with permission from Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety. Source:
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