Even as workplace injury frequency declines, workers' compensation claims are becoming more complex, more expensive and slower to resolve — trends that are reshaping how insurers, brokers and employers approach workplace risk management.
That's one of the key findings in the latest Injury Impact Report from The Travelers Companies, which analyzed more than 1.2 million workers compensation claims filed between 2021 and 2025. The report found that injured employees now miss an average of 80 workdays, an increase of more than seven days over the past decade.
"The decline in injury frequency is meaningful, but the injuries that do happen are more complex and take longer to heal," Claude Howard, vice president of workers compensation claim at Travelers, said recent comments to PropertyCasualty360.com.
Several workforce trends are driving the shift, including an aging labor force, rising medical costs and an influx of first-year employees who account for a disproportionate share of workplace injuries.
Workers age 60 and older now represent more than 16% of all lost-time claims, according to the report. Their injuries also tend to be more severe, often involving fractures and dislocations that require longer recovery periods.
"When they're injured, they miss an average of nearly 97 days, about 17 more days than the overall average," Howard said. "Slips, trips and falls drive nearly 39% of their claims, which is about 15 percentage points higher than all other age groups."
Howard noted that employers are increasingly recognizing the need to design safer workplaces for aging employees while strengthening return-to-work programs that support recovery.
"An employee who feels supported and has a clear path back to work recovers differently from one who doesn't," he said.
At the same time, first-year employees remain one of the biggest drivers of workers compensation losses. The Travelers analysis found that employees in their first year on the job account for approximately 37% of all workplace injuries and 34% of total claim costs.
The concentration is particularly high in industries with physically demanding work or elevated turnover. First-year workers account for 51% of restaurant injuries and 44% of construction injuries.
"This statistic has remained consistently high across all the years we've published the report," Howard said. "More workers cycling into new roles means more sustained exposure in that high-risk first-year injury window."
Chris Hayes, risk control assistant vice president for workers compensation and transportation at Travelers, said the findings reinforce the importance of ongoing safety engagement rather than one-time training efforts.
"What the data tells us is that the first year on the job is when the risk can be the highest and when intervention can have the most impact," Hayes said. "Build a culture where safety is an ongoing conversation, not a one-time item in orientation."
Industries such as construction, transportation and manufacturing continue to generate some of the longest injury-related absences. Construction workers miss an average of 114 days per injury, according to the report.
"These sectors carry elevated risk given the physical nature of the work, which in turn contributes to more serious injuries and longer recovery times," Howard said.
Slips, trips and falls continue to generate some of the costliest claims across nearly every industry. Howard said the aging workforce is contributing to the severity of those claims because falls among older workers often result in injuries that require extensive treatment and rehabilitation.
But the medical component is only part of the challenge. Behavioral health factors increasingly influence recovery outcomes as well.
"About 40% of injured employees have at least one behavioral health risk factor, such as catastrophic thinking or difficulty coping, that can slow their return to work," Howard said.
To improve outcomes, insurers are investing more heavily in coordinated claims management and recovery support. Howard pointed to Travelers' nurse support programs and behavioral health tools designed to help injured employees recover more effectively.
"We focus on early, coordinated engagement to help injured employees return to work as soon as they are medically able," he said.
Hayes added that employers themselves play a critical role in successful recovery outcomes.
"The most effective return-to-work is one where the worker feels valued and supported throughout recovery," Hayes said.
Looking ahead, both executives expect demographic shifts, medical inflation and changing workforce dynamics to continue reshaping workers compensation risk management.
"The workforce is aging, job tenure continues to decline and medical costs are rising — those aren't short-term fluctuations," Howard said. "For us, the fundamentals don't change: most accidents are preventable, and preparation remains the foundation of sound risk management."
Additional findings are available at Travelers.com/InjuryImpactReport.
Maura Keller is a Minnesota-based freelance writer and editor.
(Featured image credit: j-mel/Adobe Stock)
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