Back injuries are among the most expensive work injuries to treat among those who work in restaurants, according to a report released Tuesday by workers compensation insurer AmTrust Financial Services Inc.
AmTrust reviewed 130,000 restaurant industry claims submitted between 2018 and 2023 and found that disc, vertebrae and spinal cord injuries average $60,000 to $85,000 in overall costs but amount to less than 1% of all the claims in that industry.
The findings “may indicate that restaurant workers are a part of our delivery economy when it comes to lifting, straining and repetitive motions,” Matt Zender, the company’s senior vice president of workers compensation product management, said in a statement.
The report also found that cuts, punctures and scrapes are the most common injuries in restaurants but are “relatively inexpensive” to treat with an average cost of $1,798 per claim.
Claims for burns and scalds from hot surfaces and oil are the second-largest category of restaurant injuries with an average claim cost of $4,326. Muscle strains and sprains in the workplace are much more expensive to treat with an average cost per claim of $10,672 and $9,966, respectively, according to the report.
This article was first published in Business Insurance.
