Nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses result in days away from work increased among private industry workers in 2019, compared with the prior year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
In 2019, the private sector reported 888,220 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work. Last year, the BLS did not report this figure.
According to the bureau, 10 occupations accounted for nearly a third of total private industry cases involving days away from work, and the incidence rate increased in all 10 industries increased in 2019 compared with 2018.
The BLS found that laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, had the highest number of cases resulting in days away from work with 64,160, followed by heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers with 47,990.
Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers had a median number of days away from work of 19 days, down from 23 days in 2018. Light truck drivers had a median of 20 days, an increase of four days from 2018. The median number of days away from work for all private industry workers was eight days in 2019, the same as 2018.
However, nursing assistants reported the highest number of nonfatal injuries requiring days away from work per 10,000 full-time workers, with 283.5 injuries per 10,000 workers in 2019 compared with 255.7 in 2018.
This article was first published in Business Insurance.
