Workers who get hurt in Scranton, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bradford, Schuykill, and Lehigh could face costly medical bills. In many cases, an injury will also result in employees being forced to take time off from work, which can lead to lost productivity for employers as well as necessitate the payment of wage loss or disability benefits. A workers' compensation lawyer knows that all of the different costs and losses of work injuries can add up quickly. In fact, Safety News Alert indicated that the 10 most disabling injuries cost $59.58 billion in direct workers' compensation costs annually.
A Close Look at the Most Costly Work Injuries
Ten injuries that occur on the job end up costing more than $1 billion per week in workers' compensation costs. These 10 work-related health problems include:
- Overexertion injuries, which cost $15.1 billion. Overexertion injuries happen because of carrying lifting, pushing, pulling, throwing and holding. When these tasks damage the body, workers may be in considerable pain and unable to return to the job they had before.
- Falling on the same level: This refers to things like tripping or stumbling and hitting the ground at the same elevation you are walking. Costs of injuries from falling on the same level total at $9.19 billion.
- Being hit by equipment or objects. Cost that occur when workers are hit by something total at $5.3 billion.
- Falling to a lower elevation or level. Falling off of or into something causes $5.12 billion in direct workers' compensation costs.
- Other bodily reactions or exertions. There are $4.27 billion in costs caused by workers who reach, bend, twist, climb, crawl, step or otherwise do something that damages their body.
- Accidents involving motorized land vehicles. Incidents on roads involving vehicles cost $3.18 billion.
- Slipping or tripping without falling down. It is possible to sprain something or suffer other types of bodily injury if you slip or trip but catch yourself before you hit the ground. The costs of these kinds of injuries total $2.17 billion.
- Becoming trapped in or compressed by objects or equipment. Crushing and other injuries from getting trapped inside or by equipment can total $2.1 billion in costs.
- Injuries from repetitive motion. Doing the same motions or micro-tasks can damage the body, leading to injury. Costs of these kinds of injuries totals at $1.84 billion.
- Being hit by something or being hit against something. These types of injuries account for $1.76 billion in costs.
Altogether, these injuries account for 83.8 percent of all direct workers' compensation costs each year. There are other categories that account for the rest, but these top 10 reasons for workers to get hurt are far-and-away the most common causes of workers' compensation claims.
There was a significant increase in the cost of all these work injuries over just a one-year period. In 2012, the top 10 workplace injuries had a total cost of $55.4 billion, which means there was a 7.55 percent increase in expenses from one year to the next.
A Scranton accident attorney at O'Malley & Langan can help. Call (800) 817-2667 today to schedule your free consultation. Serving Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bradford, Schuykill, Lehigh, Monroe, Wyoming and Wayne counties and surrounding areas.
