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News Release Information

19-179-SAN
Thursday, January 31, 2019

Contacts Technical information: Media contact:
  • (415) 625-2270

Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in Washington – 2017

Over 86,600 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported among Washington’s private industry employers in 2017, resulting in an incidence rate of 4.0 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that Washington was among 20 states that had an incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) significantly higher than the national rate of 2.8. (Washington was 1 of 41 states and the District of Columbia for which statewide estimates are available. See Technical Note at the end of this release for more information about the survey.)

Washington’s findings from the 2017 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses include:

  • TRC incidence rates in private industry ranged from 0.4 in information to 8.2 in natural resources and mining. (See table 1.)
  • Two supersectors, with about 39 percent of private industry employment, accounted for 43 percent of the occupational injuries and illnesses: trade, transportation, and utilities; and education and health services. (See table 2.)
  • In private industry, the TRC injury and illness incidence rate ranged from 2.1 for small establishments (those employing fewer than 11 workers) to 5.0 for small mid-size establishments (those employing between 50 to 249 workers). (See table 3.)
  • Washington’s private industry TRC rate of 4.0 in 2017 was significantly lower than the rate in 2016. (See table 4.)
Table A. Number and rate of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses in private industry, United States and Washington, 2017
CharacteristicUnited StatesWashington
Number
(in thousands)
Rate
(per 100 workers)
Number
(in thousands)
Rate
(per 100 workers)

Total cases

2,811.52.886.64.0

Cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction

1,528.01.549.32.3

Cases with days away from work

882.70.929.31.3

Cases with job transfer or restriction

645.30.720.00.9

Other recordable cases

1,283.51.337.31.7
Private industry injury and illness case types

Of the 86,600 private industry injury and illness cases reported in Washington, 49,300 were of a more severe nature, involving days away from work, job transfer, or restriction—commonly referred to as DART cases. These cases occurred at a rate of 2.3 cases per 100 full-time workers. Fifty-nine percent of the DART cases in Washington were incidents that resulted in at least one day away from work, similar to the national rate of 58 percent. Other recordable cases (those not involving days away from work, job transfer, or restriction) accounted for the remaining 37,300 cases in Washington, at a rate of 1.7. In comparison, the national rate for other recordable cases was of 1.3.

In Washington, the manufacturing supersector experienced a significant decline in both the TRC and DART incidence rates from the previous year. No other private industry supersector had a significant change in either the TRC or DART rate over the year.

In 2017, 81,900 (94.6 percent) of private industry recordable injuries and illnesses were injuries. Workplace illnesses accounted for an additional 4,700 recordable cases. Three categories—hearing loss, skin disorders, and respiratory conditions—accounted for 28 percent of the occupational illnesses in Washington. Nationally, these three categories amounted to 34 percent of the work-related illness total.

State and local government injury and illness cases

In the state and local government sector in Washington, 17,900 injury and illness cases were reported in 2017, resulting in a rate of 5.3 cases per 100 full-time workers. Nationally, the rate was 4.6. Seventy-five percent of injuries and illnesses reported in Washington’s public sector occurred among local government workers.

State estimates and over-the-year change

Private industry and public sector estimates are available for 41 participating states and for the District of Columbia for 2017. The private industry injury and illness rate was statistically higher in 20 states than the national rate of 2.8 cases per 100 full-time workers, lower in 15 states and in the District of Columbia, and not statistically different in 6 states. (See chart 1.)

Compared to 2016, private industry TRC incidence rates declined in eight states, including Washington. The private industry TRC incidence rate was relatively unchanged in 33 states and in the District of Columbia. Estimates for nine states were not available in 2017 for comparison. Differences in the industry composition in each state account for some of the differences in injury and illness incidence rates across states.


Technical Note

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) is a Federal/State program in which employer's reports are collected annually from approximately 200,000 private industry and public sector (State and local government) establishments and processed by State agencies in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Summary information on the number of injuries and illnesses is transcribed by these employers directly from their recordkeeping logs to the survey questionnaire. The questionnaire also asks for the number of employee hours worked (needed in the calculation of incidence rates) as well as its annual average employment (needed to verify the unit's employment-size class).

Occupational injury and illness data for establishments in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries and for railroad activities are provided by the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), respectively. The SOII excludes all work-related fatalities as well as nonfatal work injuries and illnesses to the self-employed; to workers on farms with 10 or fewer employees; to private household workers; to volunteers; and to federal government workers.

Injuries and illnesses logged by employers conform to definitions and recordkeeping guidelines set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. Department of Labor. Under OSHA guidelines, nonfatal cases are recordable if they are occupational injuries or illnesses which involve lost work time, medical treatment other than first aid, restriction of work or motion, loss of consciousness, or transfer to another job. Employers record injuries separate from illnesses and also identify for each whether a case involved any days away from work or days of restricted work activity, or both, beyond the day of injury or onset of illness.

Survey estimates are based on a scientifically selected sample of establishments, some of which represent only themselves, but most of which also represent other employers of like industry and workforce size that were not chosen to report data in a given survey year.

The incidence rates presented in this release represent the number of injuries and/or illnesses per 100 full-time equivalent workers and were calculated as:

     (N / EH) X 200,000 where,
     N = number of injuries and/or illnesses
     EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year
     200,000 = base for 100 full-time equivalent workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year)

Background and methodological information regarding the BLS occupational safety and health statistics program can be found in Chapter 9 of the BLS Handbook of Methods at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/home.htm.

Additional occupational injury and illness data are available from our regional web page at www.bls.gov/regions/west.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202)-691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800)-877-8339.

Table 1. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry sector and case type, Washington, 2017
Industry(1)(2)(3)Total recordable casesCases with days away from work, job transfer, or restrictionOther recordable cases
TotalCases with days away from work(4)Cases with job transfer or restriction

All industries including state and local government

4.22.31.40.91.8

Private industry

4.02.31.30.91.7

Goods-producing

5.63.51.81.72.2

Natural resources and mining

8.25.12.62.53.1

Construction

5.73.42.31.12.2

Manufacturing

4.93.01.31.71.8

Service-providing

3.51.91.20.71.6

Trade, transportation, and utilities

4.52.91.71.21.6

Information

0.40.3-0.10.2

Financial activities

1.00.50.40.10.5

Professional and business services

1.60.90.60.20.7

Education and health services

5.02.41.50.92.6

Leisure and hospitality

5.02.01.40.72.9

Other services, except public administration

3.22.01.60.41.2

State and local government

5.32.62.10.52.7

State government

3.72.01.70.31.7

Local government

6.23.02.30.73.3

Footnotes:
(1) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.
(2) Data for mining (Sector 21 in the North American Industry Classification System, 2012 edition) include establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction and related support activities. Data for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining are provided to BLS by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Independent mining contractors are excluded from the coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries. These data do not reflect the changes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration made to its recordkeeping requirements effective January 1, 2002; therefore estimates for these industries are not comparable to estimates in other industries.
(3) Data for employers in rail transportation are provided to BLS by the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
(4) Days-away-from-work cases include those that result in days away from work with or without job transfer or restriction.

Note: Dashes indicate data not available.
Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as: (N/EH) x 200,000 where: N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year; and 200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).

Table 2. Numbers of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by selected industries and case types, Washington, 2017 (numbers in thousands)
Industry(1)(2)(3)Total recordable casesCases with days away from work, job transfer, or restrictionOther recordable cases
TotalCases with days away from work(4)Cases with job transfer or restriction

All industries including state and local government

104.558.136.321.846.4

Private industry

86.649.329.320.037.3

Goods-producing

29.518.29.58.711.3

Natural resources and mining

6.64.12.12.02.5

Construction

9.25.63.81.83.6

Manufacturing

13.68.43.64.95.1

Service-providing

57.231.119.811.326.0

Trade, transportation, and utilities

22.614.58.56.08.1

Information

0.50.3-0.10.2

Financial activities

1.30.60.50.10.7

Professional and business services

5.43.02.20.82.4

Education and health services

15.07.24.52.77.9

Leisure and hospitality

10.44.32.91.46.1

Other services, except public administration

2.01.21.00.20.8

State and local government

17.98.87.01.89.1

State government

4.42.42.10.32.0

Local government

13.56.44.91.57.1

Footnotes:
(1) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.
(2) Data for mining (Sector 21 in the North American Industry Classification System, 2012 edition) include establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction and related support activities. Data for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining are provided to BLS by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Independent mining contractors are excluded from the coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries. These data do not reflect the changes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration made to its recordkeeping requirements effective January 1, 2002; therefore estimates for these industries are not comparable to estimates in other industries.
(3) Data for employers in rail transportation are provided to BLS by the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
(4) Days-away-from-work cases include those that result in days away from work with or without job transfer or restriction.

Note: Dashes indicate data not available.
Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as: (N/EH) x 200,000 where: N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year; and 200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).

Table 3. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry sector and employment size, Washington, 2017
Industry(1)(2)(3)All establishmentsEstablishment employment size (workers)
1 to 1011 to 4950 to 249250 to 9991,000 or more

All industries including state and local government

4.22.24.25.14.43.6

Private industry

4.02.14.25.04.02.9

Goods-producing

5.64.36.46.45.0-

Natural resources and mining

8.2-6.69.08.77.7

Construction

5.74.46.76.03.6-

Manufacturing

4.93.45.85.84.2-

Service-providing

3.51.73.74.53.62.4

Trade, transportation, and utilities

4.5-4.25.75.72.4

Information

0.4(4)--0.2-

Financial activities

1.0--1.21.90.5

Professional and business services

1.6-2.31.91.00.8

Education and health services

5.0-4.76.05.84.9

Leisure and hospitality

5.0-5.25.75.73.0

Other services, except public administration

3.2-3.24.05.7-

State and local government

5.3-5.25.76.24.9

State government

3.7-(4)-5.93.0

Local government

6.2-5.96.36.36.2

Footnotes:
(1) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.
(2) Data for mining (Sector 21 in the North American Industry Classification System, 2012 edition) include establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction and related support activities. Data for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining are provided to BLS by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Independent mining contractors are excluded from the coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries. These data do not reflect the changes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration made to its recordkeeping requirements effective January 1, 2002; therefore estimates for these industries are not comparable to estimates in other industries.
(3) Data for employers in rail transportation are provided to BLS by the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
(4) Data do not meet publication guidelines.

Note: Dashes indicate data not available.
Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as: (N/EH) x 200,000 where: N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year; and 200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).

Table 4. Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by industry sector and selected case type with measures of statistical significance, Washington, 2016–17
Industry(1)(2)(3)Total recordable casesCases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction (4)
2016201720162017

All industries including state and local government

4.44.22.32.3

Private industry

4.34.0*2.32.3

Goods-producing

6.35.6*3.83.5

Natural resources and mining

7.78.24.85.1

Construction

6.45.73.53.4

Manufacturing

5.84.9*3.63.0*

Service-providing

3.73.51.81.9

Trade, transportation, and utilities

4.54.52.72.9

Information

0.40.40.20.3

Financial activities

1.61.00.60.5

Professional and business services

1.71.60.90.9

Education and health services

5.35.02.12.4

Leisure and hospitality

5.55.02.42.0

Other services, except public administration

4.53.21.22.0

State and local government

5.25.32.42.6

State government

3.53.71.82.0

Local government

6.16.22.83.0

Footnotes:
(1) Excludes farms with fewer than 11 employees.
(2) Data for mining (Sector 21 in the North American Industry Classification System, 2012 edition) include establishments not governed by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) rules and reporting, such as those in oil and gas extraction and related support activities. Data for mining operators in coal, metal, and nonmetal mining are provided to BLS by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. Independent mining contractors are excluded from the coal, metal, and nonmetal mining industries. These data do not reflect the changes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration made to its recordkeeping requirements effective January 1, 2002; therefore estimates for these industries are not comparable to estimates in other industries.
(3) Data for employers in rail transportation are provided to BLS by the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
(4) Days-away-from-work cases include those that result in days away from work with or without job transfer or restriction.

Note: Dashes indicate data not available.
Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were calculated as: (N/EH) x 200,000 where: N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year; and 200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers (working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year).
* An asterisk indicates a significant difference between the current year and prior year values, when testing at 95% confidence level.

 

Last Modified Date: Thursday, January 31, 2019