Workplace injuries and accidents are the near the top of everyemployer’s list of concerns.

In 2013 — the most recent year for which statistically validinjury data is available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) and the National Academy of Social Insurance — workplaceaccidents and injuries that caused employees to miss six or moredays of work cost U.S. employers nearly $62 billion, according tothe 2016 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index. Of that $62billion, more than 82.5% (more than $51 billion) can be attributedto the 10 leadingcauses of the most disabling work-related injuries.

“We rank the top 10 causes of the most serious, nonfatalworkplace injuries by their direct costs each year to helpcompanies improve safety, which better protects both employees andthe bottom-line,” said Debbie Michel, general manager, LibertyMutual’s National Insurance Casualty operation. “Workplaceaccidents impact employees’ physical, emotional and financialwellbeing. They also financially burden employers, who pay all ofthe medical costs related to a workplace injury, together with someportion of an injured employee’s pay. Beside these direct costs,workplace injuries also produce such indirect costs for employersas hiring temporary employees, lost productivity, qualitydisruptions and damage to a company’s employee engagement andexternal reputation.”

The study, now in its 12th year, finds that the rankings of thetop leading causes are consistent with earlier findings. Thesefindings help employers, risk managers and safety professionalsmake workplaces safer, lowering risk and workers’ compensationcosts.

Here is the countdown of the top 10 causes and direct costs ofthe most disabling U.S. workplace injuries. The definitions andexamples are found at the BLSwebsite.

(Photo: Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

10. Repetitive motions involvingmicro-tasks

This category represents 2.9% of the total and amounts to $1.82billion.

Some of these tasks may include a word processor who looks fromthe computer monitor to a document and back several times a day orthe cashier at the local grocery store who is scanning and bagginggroceries for several hours at a time.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

9. Struck against object or equipment

This category of workplace injury applies to workers who arehurt by forcible contact or impact, for example, an office workerwho bumps into a filing cabinet or an assembly line worker whostubs a toe on stacked parts.

These injuries account for 3% of the total and $1.85billion.

Related: Risk management techniques to reduce Workers’ Compensationcosts

(Photo: Shutterstock)

8. Caught in or compressed by equipment orobjects

Amounting to 3.2%, or $1.97 billion, these workplace injuriesresult from workers being caught in equipment or machinery that’sstill running as well as in rolling, shifting or slidingobjects.

Picture the scene in a movie in which wine barrels topple over,catching the bad guy beneath them, only in this case, it’s theemployee whose job it may be to stack the barrels. Perhaps it’s theexperienced worker who removes a machine guard to dislodge materialthat’s stuck and gets a finger caught when the machine startsmoving again.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

7. Slip or trip without fall

Occasionally, workers do slip or trip without hitting theground. Think of the employee entering the workplace who slips onicy stairs but is able to grab the handrail to prevent hitting theground. But the action of grabbing the handrail may cause theemployee to injure his shoulder or wrench her knee.

Injuries in this category are 3.8% of the total and cost $2.35billion.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

6. Roadway incidents involving motorized landvehicle

Accounting for 4.8% of injuries at a cost of $2.96 billion aremotor vehicle accidents.

The worker may be the driver, a passenger or a pedestrian, butthe cause of the injury is an automobile, truck or motorcycle.

(Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

5. Other exertions or bodily reactions

These motions include bending, crawling, reaching, twisting,climbing or stepping, according to the BLS. Consider, for example,a roofing contractor’s employees who are continually climbing upand down ladders.

These injuries are 6.7% of the total, amounting to $4.15billion.

Related: Quality doctors matter: How physician scorecarding improvesWorkers’ Comp outcomes

4. Struck by object or equipment

This category covers a range of possible injuries, from beingstruck by an object dropped by a fellow worker to being caught in aswinging door or gate. Picture the construction worker on ascaffold dropping a hammer on the worker below.

These injuries account for $5.31 billion in costs, 8.6% of thetotal.

(Photo: Claims Magazine)

3. Falls to lower level

The roofer could fall to the ground from the roof or ladder, oran office worker standing on a stepstool, reaching for a heavy filebox, could fall to the floor.

These injuries are 8.7% of the total, costing employers $5.40billion.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

2. Falls on same level

The second most costly workplace injury, surprisingly, is a fallon the same level. Picture the employee who is walking through theoffice and falls over an uneven floor surface or someone leaningtoo far back in an office chair and toppling over.

These injuries, costing $10.17 billion, are 16.4% of thetotal.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

1. Overexertion involving an outside source

According to the data, this category ranked at the top of theleading causes of disabling injury, with costs reaching $15.08billion, and almost a quarter of the total (24.4%).

The BLS explains that overexertion occurs when the physicaleffort of a worker who lifts, pulls, pushes, holds, carries, wieldsor throws an object results in an injury.

The object being handled is often heavier than the weight that aworker should be handling or the object is handled improperly. Forexample, lifting from a shelf that’s too high, or in a space that’scramped.

Within the broad category of sprains, strains, and tears causedby overexertion, most incidents resulted specifically fromoverexertion in lifting.

Risk managers should work with their carriers and workplacesafety specialists to minimize injuries, lost work days andworkers’ compensation costs.

With a little effort, employers can understand more about thecauses of accidents and injuries in their organizations, identifythe appropriate actions to reduce the number of injuries andminimize employee disabilities from workplace accidents.

Related: Challenges to the grand bargain of Workers’Compensation

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