The national average for workplace injuries or illnesses is 0.7 per 100 workers. In Missouri, that rate is slightly higher with a rate of 0.8 injuries per 100 workers. This rate puts Missouri in the number 5 slot on the ranking of state with the highest rate of workplace injuries.
These statistics are not just based on a workplace accident that leaves a worker with a bruised thumb or a bout of the flu after contracting it from a coworker. These statistics are based on serious injuries and illnesses that have either forced an employee to transfer jobs, require workplace restrictions or worse. In fact, more than 1 million workers in the United States are forced out of at least one day of work or more by an injury per year.
These accidents were also broken down not only by geography but by industry as well. It may surprise people to know that amusement parks and arcades landed top on the list with a 3.2 injury rate per 100 workers. Also included in the top workplace injury industries were animal slaughtering and processing, beverage manufacturing, foundries, nursing care facilities, alcoholic beverage merchant workers and motor vehicle manufacturing.
Workplace accidents that cause injury are often associated with claims for Social Security Disability benefits. Did you know that injury is the sixth leading reason for filing a SSD claim for benefits? The Social Security Disability Insurance program is in place for situations such as this one. SSD attorneys focus on these types of cases, because dealing with the Social Security Administration is not often considered an easy process.
Source: Claims Journal, “Rates of Serious Workplace Injuries Vay Widely by State: Allsup Study,” Aug. 6, 2013
