Half of all workplace injuries (51.3%) occurred in the first two years of the worker’s job tenure, according to the latest Workers’ Compensation Research Institute FlashReport, titled, “Overview of Workers’ Compensation Claims Composition.” Furthermore, “over a third of workers (37.5%) had one year of tenure or less with the employer at injury. Twenty-two percent had over eight years of tenure with their at-injury employer. The share of injuries occurring in the first two years of job tenure was even higher for restaurants (62%); construction (60%); and agriculture (59%).”
Types of Injuries
The most frequent type of injury, according to the report, was sprains and strains (37%) and laceration and contusions (26%), which accounted for nearly two-thirds of all injuries. There were differences in injury types by age, gender, and industry. For instance, “upper extremity fractures were concentrated in construction and manufacturing, while upper extremity neurologic injuries were more common among clerical and professional and manufacturing workers, compared with the overall claim population.”
Claim Composition Trends
Tenure
Notably, “the proportion of workers with shorter tenure at injury increased over the study period. The upward trend appears to have started in the pre-pandemic period but accelerated during the pandemic years.
“Additionally, the tenure at injury in some industry groups (such as restaurants, health care, and clerical and professional) followed a distinct downward trend. The changes in job tenure at injury were more muted in construction, mining, and public safety,” according to the report.
Gender
Another noteworthy change detailed in the report was in gender across different industries. While the proportion of injuries attributable to males increased significantly in clerical and professional and health care industries, the proportion among female workers increased in agriculture and transportation and utilities industries.
Age
“For workers aged 55 and older, the share of work injuries with shorter tenure increased from 18% to 23% between 2017 and 2022. There is also some evidence of changes in the industry mix among older workers. In 2022 compared with 2017, workers aged 55 and older had relatively few injuries in health care and services; they had more injuries in transportation and utilities and trade,” states the report.
CLM Member Tricia Bellich, partner, Lewis Brisbois, notes that, when it comes to age, “The FlashReport shows younger workers (below 35) and older workers (55 and up) accounted for 60% work related injuries. More people are entering the workforce at a younger age and more people are staying in the workforce. Focus on continual training, enforced safety programs, comprehensive conditioning, return to work programs, and employee wellness programs, can decrease the frequency in both age groups, providing the most bang for the company buck.”