Nonfatal occupational injuries in the United States Part I - overall trends and data summaries

This is the first of a three-pact paper focusing on key overall nonfatal oc cupational injury trends in the United States; Part II of the paper focuses on back injuries, while Part III focuses on injuries to the upper extremit ies. In general, data on nonfatal occupational injuries in the United State s are scattered and present in different formats. The primary goal of this work was to extract information from massive and voluminous databases of th e Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Safety Council (NSC), a nd present it in usable form to ergonomics researchers and practitioners. A secondary goal was to make ergonomics and safety professionals aware of th e existence and usefulness of the newly redesigned BLS injury reports. The data reveal the following: (i) The number of occupational injuries in the U nited States showed a slightly decreasing trend between 1980 and 1991. It i s likely that the numbers reported earlier may have been gross underestimat es. (ii) The overall BLS-reported incidence rates for all private US indust ry increased substantially in 1994 compared to 1984, but decreased in compa rison to the rates in 1992 and 1993. (iii) In 1994, the manufacturing indus try had the highest incidence rates followed by the construction industry. (iv) The total cost of occupational injuries continued to increase between 1972 and 1994. The sudden and large increment in total cost in 1992 (nearly $60 billion), from. 1991, indicates a change in injury reporting and recor ding practices. The total cost of occupational injuries in the United State s in 1996 was slightly more than $120 billion. (v) Lost time due to work in juries has continued to increase in the 1990s. More than 122 million workda ys were lost due to work injuries in the United States in 1996 alone. (vi) The back was the most affected body part in work injuries. Relevance to industry This paper provides an occupational injury profile of the American industry . Knowledge of injury trends is essential for instituting efforts to contro l them. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.