The most common workplace accidents lead to the costliest claims, according to an annual report from insurance firm The Travelers Companies Inc.
By the numbers, the most frequent causes of workplace injury are:
- Overexertion (29% of claims analyzed).
- Slips, trips and falls (23%).
- Being struck by an object (12%).
- Motor vehicle accidents (5%).
- Caught-in or caught-between hazards (5%).
That list is nearly identical to the list of the top five drivers of severe claims ($250,000 or more), according to the “2024 Injury Impact Report” from Hartford, Connecticut-based Travelers, which calls itself the largest workers compensation insurer in the U.S. The only difference was that the category of slips, trips and falls (#2 by frequency) incurred greater claims than overexertion (#1 by frequency).
Similar to previous years, the 2024 report found that employees in their first year on the job continue to be the most vulnerable to workplace injuries, accounting for 35% of all workers compensation claims. This year’s analysis also uncovered increases in missed workdays due to injuries:
- On average, injured employees missed 72 workdays, up one day from last year’s report.
- The construction industry continued to have the highest average number of lost workdays per injury (103 workdays, up from 99), followed by transportation (83 workdays, up from 77).
- Injured small-business employees missed an average of 82 workdays, up from 79.
“There are tangible consequences to any injury, and many include long-term, sometimes permanent, effects,” Chris Hayes, Assistant Vice President of Workers Compensation and Transportation, Risk Control, at Travelers, said in a release. “By understanding where the risks were in the past, businesses can better identify what to look for and tailor their risk management and employee safety strategies accordingly to help prevent injuries from happening.”
To produce the report, Travelers analyzed more than 1.2 million workers compensation claims that it received between 2017 and 2021 from a variety of industries and business sizes. Findings were based solely on indemnity claims, where the injured employees could not immediately return to work and incurred medical costs.
“Factors such as inexperience, workforce shortages and maintenance issues are all contributing to these unfortunate and often avoidable accidents,” Rich Ives, Senior Vice President of Business Insurance Claim at Travelers, said. “While the number of injuries overall has been trending downward in recent years, our analysis shows that there’s never been a better time for businesses to invest in workplace safety and injury prevention.”
