Illnesses and injuries among State and local government workers in 2008

In 2008, nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among State and local government workers combined occurred at a higher rate (6.3 cases per 100 full-time workers) than among private industry workers (3.9 cases per 100 workers) in 2008.

Approximately 4 in 5 injuries and illnesses reported in State and local government occurred among local government workers, resulting in an injury and illness incidence rate of 7.0 cases per 100 local government workers, which is significantly higher than the 4.7 cases per 100 workers in State government.

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The injury and illness incidence rate for local government workers whose jobs involved in justice, public order, and safety activities was 12.3 per 100 workers.

Public sector estimates on a nationwide basis covering nearly 19 million State and local government workers—for example, police protection and fire protection—are available from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses for the first time.

These data are from the Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. For more information, see "Workplace Injuries and Illnesses — 2008" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL 09-1302.