While workers recognize safety as a serious issue in the workplace, their perceptions about their greatest safety risks do not match reality, according to a recent National Safety Council survey.
Accidental injury, which is the leading cause of death for people under 40 and the fifth leading cause of death for all ages, ranked third behind violent crime and natural disasters as the top safety concerns among American workers. The survey also found that more feel safer at home than they do at work, when in fact the opposite is true, according to national injury data.
About 31 percent of respondents said they believe they are safer at home than in the workplace, and 62 percent said they feel equally safe at home and at work. Only 5 percent said they feel safer at work.
However, in 2004, about 5,000 workers died and 3.7 million suffered disabling injuries as a result of accidents occurring in the workplace. That same year, nearly 44,100 workers died and 6.8 million American workers were disabled as a result of injuries suffered while they were off the job. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional injury for both on- and off-the-job accidents.
"Contrary to what most people believe, home is not the safe haven we think it is. With more than half of all accidental deaths occurring in homes and communities, we have a greater challenge protecting the public from injuries while off the job than in America's workplaces," said Alan C. McMillan, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.
The survey of more than 400 American workers was conducted for the NSC's June National Safety Month observance by Atlanta-based Infosurv, a market research firm specializing in employee and customer surveys.
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