Oct. 21, 2010

Survey shows Minnesota workplace injuries continue to decrease significantly

A recent Minnesota workplace survey estimates the state's injury and illness rate decreased significantly from 2008 to 2009. According to the annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, an estimated total of 78,100 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported in Minnesota's private-industry and public-sector workplaces during 2009, resulting in a rate of 3.8 cases per 100 full-time-equivalent (FTE) workers. These are the lowest numbers and rates since the survey began in 1972.

In 2008, there were an estimated 87,900 injury and illness cases, 4.2 cases per 100 FTE workers. The estimated number of recordable injuries and illnesses has decreased by 30 percent since 2003.

While Minnesota's nonfederal employment decreased by 109,600 workers, or 4 percent, from 2008 to 2009, the estimated number of injury and illness cases decreased 11 percent.

For the survey, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) collected 2009 injury and illness records from approximately 5,000 Minnesota employers. State agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) gather the survey data, which is the primary source of workplace injury and illness data nationwide.

"Workplace safety is our number one priority and Minnesota is heading in the right direction," said Steve Sviggum, DLI commissioner. "Our goal is to get all employees home at the end of the workday in the same condition they arrived to work. While numbers and statistics can be cold things, these statistics show positive results:  safer workplaces and fewer injuries and illnesses for Minnesota workers."

Nationally, an estimated 4.1 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported in private- and public-industry workplaces during 2009, resulting in a rate of 3.9 cases per 100 FTE workers. This was lower than the 2008 national estimates of 4.6 million cases, or 4.2 cases per 100 FTE workers.

Other information from the Minnesota survey

• An estimated 37,200 cases in 2009 resulted in days away from work, job transfer or restrictions, significantly less than the 2008 estimate of 40,400 cases. The rate for these injuries was 1.8 cases per 100 FTE workers, below the rate of 1.9 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2008.



• The rate of days-away-from-work cases was 1.0 per 100 FTE workers in 2009, below the rate of 1.1 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2008.



• Industry divisions with the highest total injury and illness rates per 100 FTE workers were agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (6.3); health care and social assistance (5.9); and construction (5.7).



• The total case rate for manufacturing dropped significantly, from 5.5 cases per 100 FTE in 2008 to 4.6 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2009. The number of injury and illness cases dropped 8 percent, from 18,100 cases in 2008 to 14,200 cases in 2009, while manufacturing employment decreased by 5 percent. The total case rate in manufacturing has decreased in five of the past six years, dropping by 61 percent since posting a rate of 7.5 cases per 100 FTE workers in 2003.

The summary tables are available on the DLI Web site at www.dli.mn.gov/RS/StatWSH.asp. The national summary tables are available on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/iif/oshsum.htm.

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News media contact:
James Honerman
(651) 284-5313