Research and Statistics -- DLI statistics

Workers' compensation

Injury characteristics of indemnity claimants, injury-years 1990-2008 [1]

Description

A. Distribution of indemnity claimants by cause of injury [1]

Injury year	Exposure	Caught in machine	Cut	Fall and slip	Motor vehicle	Strain	Contact	Struck by something	Misc.
1994	3.1%	3.8%	2.8%	20.9%	3.3%	46.8%	3.8%	8.7%	6.9%
1995	2.8%	4.5%	3.4%	20.2%	3.4%	48.5%	4.0%	6.7%	6.4%
1996	2.5%	4.5%	3.3%	20.9%	4.2%	48.3%	4.1%	6.2%	6.0%
1997	2.5%	4.3%	3.0%	20.6%	3.7%	50.3%	4.0%	6.7%	4.8%
1998	2.4%	3.6%	4.5%	19.7%	3.1%	49.6%	2.7%	7.5%	7.0%
1999	2.5%	3.9%	4.9%	19.3%	3.8%	47.7%	5.0%	6.9%	6.1%
2000	2.3%	3.6%	5.7%	18.1%	4.2%	48.4%	4.8%	6.4%	6.5%
2001	2.3%	3.2%	5.6%	21.3%	3.9%	46.9%	4.2%	6.3%	6.3%
2002	2.4%	3.6%	5.7%	21.7%	3.5%	46.4%	3.8%	6.5%	6.4%

B. Distribution of indemnity claimants by nature of injury

Injury year	Burn	Contusion	Cuts	Dislocations	Fracture
1990	2.1%	6.6%	9.1%	3.1%	7.4%
1991	2.3%	6.2%	8.2%	3.0%	6.9%
1992	2.0%	6.0%	7.7%	3.1%	6.7%
1993	2.1%	5.6%	8.5%	3.0%	7.2%
1994	2.3%	6.1%	8.4%	2.5%	6.7%
1995	2.4%	6.4%	8.8%	2.4%	7.5%
1996	2.2%	6.8%	8.8%	2.5%	8.1%
1997	2.0%	7.2%	9.1%	2.3%	8.1%
1998	2.0%	7.2%	9.6%	1.9%	8.1%
1999	1.7%	6.9%	8.3%	1.9%	7.6%
2000	1.7%	7.2%	8.0%	1.8%	6.9%
2001	1.8%	7.0%	7.6%	1.8%	7.5%
2002	1.9%	7.5%	7.6%	1.6%	7.9%

Injury year	Sprain	Other cumulative injuries	Multiple parts and other injuries	Illness
1990	54.9%	7.6%	7.7%	1.5%
1991	56.1%	7.6%	8.2%	1.5%
1992	54.2%	8.4%	10.3%	1.7%
1993	54.2%	7.6%	10.4%	1.5%
1994	52.8%	6.6%	12.8%	1.9%
1995	52.0%	6.1%	12.9%	1.5%
1996	51.2%	5.8%	13.3%	1.4%
1997	51.0%	5.6%	12.8%	1.8%
1998	52.5%	5.7%	11.3%	1.7%
1999	55.2%	5.5%	11.2%	1.6%
2000	56.5%	6.2%	10.3%	1.4%
2001	56.1%	5.7%	11.3%	1.1%
2002	56.0%	4.7%	11.6%	1.1%

Injury year	Burn	Contusion	Open wounds	Disloc.	Fracture	Sprains
2003	1.6%	5.5%	7.7%	1.4%	7.9%	49.1%
2004	1.6%	5.3%	7.6%	1.3%	7.5%	49.9%
2005	1.8%	5.5%	7.2%	1.3%	7.9%	45.4%
2006	1.8%	5.4%	7.6%	1.3%	7.8%	44.6%
2007	1.7%	5.8%	7.3%	1.4%	7.5%	45.8%
2008	1.6%	6.6%	7.3%	1.3%	8.8%	47.6%

Injury year	Cumulative disorders	Hernia	Pain	Mult. injuries	Diseases
2003	4.8%	2.4%	11.9%	4.4%	3.4%
2004	4.8%	2.6%	12.5%	4.0%	2.8%
2005	3.9%	2.5%	18.0%	3.6%	2.9%
2006	3.8%	2.4%	19.1%	3.5%	2.8%
2007	3.5%	2.1%	18.7%	3.3%	2.9%
2008	3.0%	2.1%	16.5%	3.3%	1.9%

C. Distribution of indemnity claimants by part of body injured

Injury year	Head/neck	Upper extremity	Back/spine	Trunk/body system	Lower extremity	Multiple parts
1990	4.1%	23.3%	39.8%	4.6%	18.2%	10.1%
1991	4.1%	22.6%	39.3%	4.6%	18.5%	10.9%
1992	3.9%	25.9%	36.0%	5.0%	17.5%	11.8%
1993	3.9%	29.0%	31.6%	6.0%	18.0%	11.7%
1994	4.0%	29.7%	30.1%	6.4%	17.9%	11.9%
1995	4.2%	30.0%	28.9%	6.2%	19.0%	11.7%
1996	4.3%	30.4%	27.7%	6.4%	19.5%	11.7%
1997	4.4%	30.7%	27.1%	6.3%	20.1%	11.5%
1998	4.8%	31.0%	27.0%	5.7%	20.5%	11.0%
1999	4.6%	31.4%	26.7%	6.4%	20.8%	10.2%
2000	4.5%	32.3%	26.8%	6.2%	20.2%	10.0%
2001	4.0%	32.4%	25.4%	6.2%	21.3%	10.8%
2002	4.8%	30.6%	26.6%	6.0%	21.4%	10.5%
2003	4.2%	24.4%	24.1%	15.2%	20.1%	11.9%
2004	4.2%	24.1%	24.0%	15.8%	19.9%	12.1%
2005	4.8%	23.0%	23.3%	15.5%	21.1%	12.4%
2006	4.6%	24.0%	23.0%	15.7%	20.9%	11.8%
2007	4.6%	23.7%	22.7%	15.7%	20.9%	12.4%
2008	4.6%	23.3%	22.2%	16.0%	21.7%	12.2%

D. Distribution of indemnity claimants by event or exposure

Injury year	Contact	Falls	Bodily reaction and overexertion	Exposure	Transportation accidents	Fires and explosions	Assaults
2003	18.1%	17.7%	55.7%	2.6%	3.9%	0.2%	1.7%
2004	17.3%	16.9%	57.5%	2.3%	3.8%	0.2%	2.0%
2005	17.9%	18.6%	55.1%	2.5%	3.9%	0.3%	1.8%
2006	18.0%	17.4%	55.7%	2.9%	3.8%	0.1%	2.0%
2007	17.0%	19.4%	55.0%	2.7%	4.0%	0.2%	1.8%
2008	16.8%	21.2%	53.4%	2.5%	3.9%	0.2%	2.0%

E. Distribution of indemnity claimants by source of injury

Injury year	Chemicals	Containers	Furniture, fixtures	Machinery	Parts and materials
2003	0.8%	12.7%	3.5%	6.5%	9.7%
2004	0.7%	12.4%	3.8%	6.3%	10.0%
2005	0.7%	12.8%	3.8%	5.9%	11.0%
2006	0.9%	13.2%	3.7%	6.2%	11.4%
2007	0.9%	12.2%	3.8%	5.9%	10.9%
2008	0.8%	11.9%	3.4%	5.2%	10.3%
Injury year	Injured worker	Structures, surfaces	Tools, equipment	Vehicles	Other person
2003	23.9%	20.2%	7.1%	8.3%	7.4%
2004	24.5%	19.0%	7.1%	8.2%	8.0%
2005	21.7%	20.0%	7.9%	8.6%	7.4%
2006	21.8%	18.5%	8.2%	8.2%	7.8%
2007	22.0%	19.8%	8.0%	8.6%	8.0%
2008	21.4%	21.6%	8.1%	8.9%	8.3%

1. Claims data is from the Department of Labor and Industry claims database. Percentages are based on cases with known values. Injury characteristics for years prior to 1993 were initially coded using a different system. Cause of accident coding using the new system attained acceptable quality in 1994. The Bureau of Labor Statistics injury and illness classification system was used for 2003 and later years.

2. Shoulder injuries were moved from upper extremity (pre-2003 classification) to trunk/body system. Hip injuries were moved from lower extremity (pre-2003 classification) to trunk/body system.