Injuries and Industries: Survey Says…

The results are in. The just-released 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses reports on the annual rate of work-related injuries and illnesses in hundreds of industries across America. And, there is mostly good news for workers in the construction industry. Some highlights:

• The injury rate for the construction industry overall,  3.8 incidents per 100 full-time employees, ranks just slightly above the average of 3.5 for all private-sector businesses. To put it another way, this is somewhere between steel foundry workers (12.3) and investment bankers (0.2), and just about even with manufacturing (3.9).

• The 3.8 rate for construction injuries indicates a slight decline in such incidents since 2010, when the injury figure for construction was 3.9 incidents per 100 employees — which was, in turn, down from 4.2 in 2009. However, the bottom-line figure of over 184,000 construction-related injuries nationwide in 2011 likely kept construction accident attorneys busy, especially New York construction accident attorneys (see below).

• In the State of New York, the combined injury-and-illness rate for construction workers (injury-only rates are not available by state) were higher than the national average — 4.4 incidents per 100 workers in New York State versus 3.9 for the construction industry nationwide.

• The rate of injury and illness in the private sector as a whole was highest among mid-sized businesses, which the survey defines as establishments employing 50 to 249 workers. However, construction workers employed by smaller businesses, take note — in the construction industry, the injury and illness rate were highest among businesses with only 11 to 49 workers.

Therefore, if you are a New York construction worker employed by a company with 11 to 49 workers, you may want to have the name of a New York construction accident attorney handy.  Moreover, if you have been involved in a construction accident at work, contact the experienced construction accident attorneys at Rich & Rich, P.C. today.