by Paul V. Arnold

More than 400,000 injuries and illnesses that required recuperation away from work beyond the day of the incident were reported in manufacturing industry workplaces in 1999, according to a survey released this spring by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The overall total of 403,600 lost-worktime injury and illness cases placed manufacturing at the top of all private industry segments. The figure also comprised 24 percent of the 1.7 million cases reported in all private industry segments during that year. The retail industry reported the second-most lost-worktime cases, 291,600.

From manufacturing’s total, 19.3 percent of all cases required the injured or ill worker to miss 31 or more days of work. A total of 37.1 percent of cases required the worker to miss at least 11 days of work.

Musculoskeletal disorders accounted for 37.7 percent of all manufacturing-related cases. These injuries, on average, led to an eight-day absence. General laborers and assemblers reported 32,800 and 17,900 MSD cases, respectively.

MSDs are defined as an injury or disorder of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage or spinal discs. They don’t include disorders caused by slips, trips, falls or similar accidents.

Other telling manufacturing statistics from the BLS report include:

Sex: Men accounted for 74.7 percent of all reported lost-worktime cases.

Age: Workers between the ages of 35 and 44 were the most susceptible (29.3 percent of cases). Other age groups of note include 25-34 (27.0 percent) and 45-54 (20.3 percent).

Experience: Workers with less than three months of service with an employer reported 11.3 percent of cases. Workers with five or more years of service had 32.4 percent of the cases.

Job classification: Operators, laborers and fabricators accounted for 72.1 percent of cases. Precision production, craft and repair workers accounted for 17.9 percent.

Severity: Sprains and strains comprised 39 percent of injuries. Cuts and lacerations were second, at 8.9 percent.

Body parts: Parts of the body most affected by injuries or illnesses include the back (22.1 percent), finger (12.8 percent), wrist (6.8 percent), knee (6.4 percent) and shoulder (5.8 percent).

Incidents: The most frequently cited sources of injuries include worker motion or position (19.6 percent), struck by object (14.1 percent) and overexertion in lifting (13.7 percent).

For more information on the Bureau of Labor Statistics or to download the full 1999 report, visit http://stats.bls.gov/oshhome.htm.

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