With the holiday shopping season in full swing, many businesses have boosted their ranks with seasonal help to accommodate the rush—and they may be boosting their chance of employees incurring workplace injuries as well, according to a recent report from insurance provider Travelers.
The 2023 Traveler’s Injury Impact Report showed that a third (34%) of workplace injuries occurred during an employee’s first year on the job. Restaurants, construction, and transportation industries are most affected by those injuries, but other logistics-related businesses—including manufacturing and wholesale—are at risk as well. First-year injuries account for a third of all workers compensation costs, according to the report. Travelers examined its workers compensation claim data to understand which employees are getting injured, the causes of workplace accidents, and the length of recovery time. Researchers analyzed more than 1.2 million workers compensation claims submitted between 2016 and 2020, with data based on lost-time claims from those years. The most common cause of injury in the workplace is overexertion (29%), followed by slips, trips, and falls (23%). Overexertion could include strains or injuries resulting from twisting, reaching, lifting, jumping, or using tools and machinery. Such injuries account for a third of incidents in manufacturing and 36% in wholesale industries, for example. Slips, trips, and falls ranked second among manufacturing and wholesale industries—accounting for 17% and 19% of incidents, respectively— and had the highest cost per claim, followed by motor vehicle accidents. Slips, trips, and falls kept workers out of work for an average of 83 days, while those involved in a motor vehicle accident were away from work for an average 79 days. The data on first-year injuries continues a trend Travelers identified in 2022.
