North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates
If you live in the state of Illinois, it may come as no surprise that when it comes to workplace-related slip and falls due to inclement weather, Illinois is fourth on the list. In fact, according to Liberty Mutual Research Institute, the state tied with third-place Michigan at 32 percent. Only Wisconsin at 33 percent and Indiana at 37 percent scored higher.
The institute, which for the last 15 years has kept an annual ranking of the top 10 causes of workplace injuries that were serious but not fatal in the United States, found that nationwide falls that occurred on the same level accounted for $9.19 billion in workers’ compensation costs for 2012. It was one of the leading causes of injuries in the workplace, second only to overexertion that had a workers’ compensation cost of $15.1 billion.
While most of the falls were due to snow and ice with slip and fall claims actually doubling during the years of 2013 and 2014, the study showed that most cases of overexertion were generally related to something that the workers were carrying, lifting, pulling, pushing, throwing or holding. Other types of exertion also made the list coming in at number five with $4.27 billion in workers’ compensation costs. These types of injuries were typically due to workers walking, standing, kneeling, sitting, stepping, twisting, reaching, crawling, climbing or bending.
Interestingly, while the number of serious, but nonfatal, injuries increased during this time span, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration actually reported that the number of worker deaths in the U.S. has gone down while the number of those employed in the U.S. has doubled. They state that there was an average of about 38 worker deaths per day back in 1970 but in 2012, this number was down to only 12 deaths a day, meaning that workplace fatalities have decreased by 65 percent.
Individuals who have been injured on the job may find it beneficial to seek the counsel of an experienced Chicago personal injury attorney.