Kentucky law gives injured workers the right to compensation for work-related injuries without having to prove fault. Unfortunately, there are common risks that cause these injuries. Prevention could safeguard workers and save billions of dollars in workers’ compensation costs.
Injuries Are Costly
Each year, an index is developed by Liberty Mutual Insurance which lists the top 10 causes of serious and nondeadly workplace injuries. These injuries totaled $52.93 billion in direct workers’ compensation costs in this country in 2020.
This equals over one billion dollars each week that businesses spend just on the 10 most common workplace injuries. Injuries related to the top 10 causes accounted for 89 percent or $52.93 billion of the total cost burden in this country.
The top five injuries were 69.5 percent of the total cost injury burden. Direct costs of all disabling injuries was $59.59 billion.
Top Five Injuries
Overexertion involving outside sources or handling objects remains as the leading cause of disabling workplace injuries. This includes lifting, pushing, holding, carrying, or throwing objects. These injuries cost $13.98 billion in direct costs and constitutes 23.5 percent of the financial burden in this country.
Falls on the same level is the second highest cause. This injury has direct costs of $10.84 billion and constitutes 18.2 percent of the national injury burden.
Being struck by an object or equipment is the third highest with costs of $6.12 billion and 10.3 percent of the national burden. The next common injury is falls to a lower level which had costs of $5.71 billion and was 9.6 percent of the burden.
The fifth highest was other exertions or bodily injuries. These include bending, reaching, twisting, climbing. crawling, walking, and running. This injury had direct costs of $4.69 billion and was 7.9 percent of the injury burden.
Other Top Causes
The sixth through tenth top injuries constituted 19.5 percent of the disabling injuries’ total direct cost. These were vehicle accidents, slips or trips with falls, repetitive motions involving microtasks, collision with objects and being caught in or compressed by objects or running equipment or machines.
Seeking workers’ compensation benefits may be complicated at times. An attorney can help assure that you do not lose important rights.