Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in the United States, 1999

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U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in the United States, 1999

Profiles of lost workday injuries and illnesses

Since 1972, The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported annually on the number and rate of workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry. The BLS Survey also identities the occupation and personal traits of workers disabled and the characteristics of those injuries and illnesses.

The survey collects information from a scientific sample of about 174,000 private industry establishments. Work related fatalities and counted and profiled in a separate Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

Data users and uses

Detailed data collected by the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses are useful to the safety and health community in preventing serious injuries and illnesses and lessening the severity of those that do occur.

Employers and employees may compare their workplace injury profiles with statistics on similar workplaces nationwide.
Policy makers can better judge which specific safety and health problems require improved or expanded injury and illness prevention programs and regulations.
Researchers can isolate the circumstances surrounding a specific injury or illness, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, in different work setting to formulate solutions that best fit the work and the worker.

What the survey data tell us

There were approximately 1 and 3/4 million nonfatal work injuries and illnesses with days away from work in 1999.
Men composed two-thirds of the case total; but women made up the majority of cases resulting from repetitive motion or from assaults and violent acts.
Older workers sustain more severe injuries and illnesses than do their younger counterparts, as shown in chart 2.
Truck drivers was the only occupation cited with at least 100,000 cases with days away from work to recuperate from an injury.
Repetitive motion, falls to lower to levels, and transportation accidents were especially disabling events, each having a median of at least 9 workdays lost.
Hundreds of injury sources were cited, including not only traditional industrial hazards, such as containers and tools, but also the injured worker, co-workers, and even health care residents.
Serious back sprains and finger cuts are two common disabling conditions sustained at work. The former often results from overexertion and the latter, from contact with objects.

Profile of injuries and illnesses with days away from work¹,
private industry, 1999

Characteristic	Number	Percent	Median days away from work
Total	1,702.5	100.0	6
Sex
Men	1,129.2	66.3	6
Women	558.1	32.8	5
Disabling condition
Sprains, strains	739.7	43.5	6
Bruises, contusions	156.0	9.2	3
Cuts, lacerations	132.4	7.8	3
Fractures	113.7	6.7	20
Carpal tunnel syndrome	27.9	1.6	27
Heat burns	27.1	1.6	4
Tendonitis	16.6	1.0	9
Chemical burns	11.6	0.7	3
Amputations	10.0	0.6	18
Multiple injuries	59.3	3.5	7
Disabling source
Floors, walkways, ground surfaces	272.0	16.0	7
Worker motion/position	267.1	15.7	9
Containers	244.6	14.4	8
Parts and materials	192.0	11.3	6
Vehicles	137.7	8.1	7
Machinery	114.2	6.7	6
Tools, instruments, and equipment	105.4	6.2	4
Health care patient	72.4	4.3	5
Furniture and fixtures	58.5	3.4	5
Chemicals, chemical products	28.8	1.7	3
Disabling event, exposure
Overexertion	459.4	27.0	6
Contact with objects/ Equipment	459.6	27.0	4
--Struck by object	229.2	13.5	4
--Struck against object	116.5	6.8	4
--Caught in equipment or objects	76.4	4.5	6
Fall to same level	190.7	11.2	6
Fall to lower level	93.9	5.5	10
Exposure to harmful Substances	76.2	4.5	3
Repetitive motion	73.2	4.3	17
Transportation accidents	73.2	4.3	9
Slip, trip, loss of balance without fall	54.8	3.2	6
Assaults violent acts by person(s)	16.6	1.0	4
Fires and explosions	3.5	0.2	7
¹Cases with days away from work may include some days of restricted work activity. NOTE: These survey estimates are based on a scientifically selected sample of employers. Because of space limitations, only major categories are shown for each characteristic. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, 1999.

Chart 1. Percent distribution of injuries and illnesses by major occupation, 1999
Operators, fabricators and laborers	42.3%
Service	17.0%
Precision production, craft and repair	17.5%
Technical sales, and administrative support	14.7%
Managerial and professional	5.6%
Farming, forestry and fishing	2.5%
Nonclassified	0.5%
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses--cases involving days away from work.

Chart 2. Median days away from work by age of injured or ill worker. 1999
Age of worker	Median days away from work
65 and over	11 days
55 to 64	10
45 to 54	8
35 to 44	6
25 to 34	5
20 to 24	4
16 to 19	3
14 to 15	1
All ages	6
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses--cases involving days away from work.

Chart 3. Occupations with the most injuries and illnesses, 1999
	Injuries and Illnesses (thousands)
Truck drivers	141.1
Laborers, nonconstruction	89.1
Nursing aides, orderlies	75.7
Construction laborers	46.5
Janitors and cleaners	43.4
Assemblers	40.0
Carpenters	35.0
Cooks	28.0
Stock handlers and baggers	27.3
Registered nurses	25.7
SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses--cases involving days away from work.

More information

For more detailed national data, write to:

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses
Room 3180
2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20212

oshstaff@bls.gov

State data can be obtained from participating States. Please contact us at the address below to learn more about the occupational injuries and illnesses program in our State. [No address givenon original]

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