By The Numbers

Work injuries cost Americans $132.1 billion in 2001. That amounts to $970 per worker (NSC, 2003).

Average incurred cost per workers compensation claim: Carpal Tunnel - $16,000; Cumulative injury - $13,000; Sprains/Strains - $10,000 (NSC, 2003).

A total of 5.2 million injuries and illnesses were reported in private industry workplaces during 2001, resulting in a rate of 5.7 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers (BLS, 2003).

Of the 5.2 million total injuries and illnesses reported in 2001, about 2.6 million were lost-workday cases, that is, they required recuperation away from work or restricted duties at work, or both (BLS, 2003).

Of the 5.2 million nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in 2001, 4.9 million were injuries (BLS, 2003).

As in the preceding ten years, more than 4 out of 10 injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work in 2001 were sprains or strains (BLS, 2003).

Despite the common belief that aging workers are at the highest risk for injuries, workers aged 20 to 44 accounted for 65 percent of all injured workers in 2001 (BLS, 2003).

Sprains and strains continued to be the leading category of injury and illness in every major industry division in 2001. Together, service and manufacturing industries make up 45.3 percent of these cases (BLS, 2003).