The accident severity rate indicates how often traumatic occupational injuries occur in Massachusetts and worldwide. You can figure this number by taking the number of lost working days and multiplying it by 20,000. Then, divide that number by the total number of hours worked. Three factors can raise or lower the rate of traumatic injuries, so employers wanting to reduce their on-the-job accident rate will want to consider all of them.
Individual factors in traumatic occupational injuries
After looking at injury statistics from 10 large construction sites over 10 years, it was found that workers between 23 and 33 were most likely to have traumatic occupational injuries. Workers with a high school diploma were injured 39.4% of the time, compared to 32.1% for those with no diploma and 28.5% for those with at least a college degree. The injury rate did not vary depending on whether the person was single or married.
Organizational factors in traumatic occupational injuries
Manual laborers received 71.2% of injuries compared to 25.5% of those with technical skills. Supervisors were injured only 3.3% of the time.
Accident type factors in traumatic occupational injuries
Researchers also examined the type of workplace accident when the traumatic occupational injury occurred. Falls caused 30.6% of the injuries, followed closely by collision, which generated 30.5% of the injuries and being caught in or between objects, which caused 29.9% of the injuries. Over 29% of the injuries were caused by a falling object. The remaining injuries were divided between electrocution and chemical spills.
Employers who want to reduce the rate of traumatic accidents need to consider individual, organizational and accident-type factors. Controlling these three variables will lower accident rates at job sites.
