Nonfatal Injuries
BLS estimates that total recordable occupational injuries (which include
fatalities before 1992) reached a high of 6.4 million cases in 1990
then declined to a low of 4.9 million injuries in 2001 (Figure 2–69).
Nonfatal injuries represented 93.6% of the 5.2 million nonfatal injuries
and illnesses reported in 2001. Injury incidence rates (which include
fatalities before 1992) declined 39% during 1976–2001, from 8.9
cases per 100 full-time workers in 1976 to 5.4 cases in 2001 (Figure
2–70). This decline is reflected in cases without lost workdays
(19.6% reduction) and in cases involving days away from work (19.5%
reduction). The increasing number and rate of injury cases with restricted
work activity continued: the number of cases increased 8.7-fold and
the rates increased 4-fold.
NIOSH, in collaboration with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
collects information about nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses
treated in hospital emergency departments. In 1999, an estimated 3.9
million occupational injuries and illnesses were treated in hospital
emergency departments among all industry and occupation groups for workers
aged 15 and older. The highest rates of these occupational injuries
and illnesses occurred among workers aged 15–24 (Figure 2–71).
Male workers aged 15 and older accounted for two-thirds or 2.7 million
of all occupational injuries and illnesses treated in U.S. hospital
emergency departments (Figure 2–72). Among the treated workers
for whom race/ethnicity was known, 2.46 million or 78.3% were white,
non-Hispanic; 459,000 or 14.6% were black, non-Hispanic; and 225,000
or 7.1% were Hispanic. Race/ethnicity was unknown for a large portion
of the workers treated in hospital emergency departments (Figure 2–73).
By private industry sector in 2001, incidence rates for nonfatal occupational
injuries ranged from a low of 1.5 per 100 full-time workers in finance,
insurance, and real estate to a high of 7.8 in construction (Figure
2–74). Other industry sectors exceeding the private-sector rate
included manufacturing (7.0, or 1.2 million cases), agriculture, forestry,
and fishing (7.0, or 104,400 cases), transportation and public utilities
(6.6, or 436,900 cases), and retail trade (5.5, or 964,200 cases). During
1976–2001, construction and manufacturing reported higher rates
of total cases than other private industry sectors (Figure 2–75),
and construction had higher rates for lost-workday cases (Figure 2–76);
manufacturing reported more cases of restricted work activity only (Figure
2–77).
Magnitude and Trend
How many workers suffered injuries during 1976–2001?
