North Carolina Workplace Injury Statistics
Workplace injuries fall into the category of things that normally remain outside of one’s thoughts until they suddenly have a direct effect on one’s own family. Many people are fortunate enough to avoid having their lives disrupted by an occupational injury, but the number of North Carolinians who must cope with the physical, emotional, and financial stresses of these injuries is growing.
Until you become one, statistics have a way of seeming like distant things that only affect other people. But they do to help to put problems into perspective. The Raleigh workers’ compensation attorneys of Scudder & Hedrick, PLLC, hope to help you grasp the severity of workplace injuries and to assure you that you are not alone if you have already sustained one.
2007 Workplace Injury Statistics
All of the figures below were taken from the 2008 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics utilizing data gathered from 2007. North Carolina had, on average, nearly 4 million residents employed at any given time throughout the year. From that total working population, there were approximately 124,100 “reportable cases” of workplace injuries and illnesses across all fields, including governmental offices and agencies.
The following are the most dangerous lines of work, as measured by rate of total occupational cases reported in that sector:
- Health care and social assistance (10.1 %)
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (6.6 %)
- Manufacturing (4.4 %)
- Local government (4.0 %)
- Construction (3.8 %)
- Trade, transportation, and utilities (3.5 %)
Because the classifications are quite broad, it is somewhat difficult to draw conclusions from these figures, but they certainly communicate that occupational injuries stretch across a large swath of the North Carolina workforce.
Contact Us
To learn more about the legal rights of workers, contact the Raleigh workers’ compensation attorneys of Scudder & Hedrick, PLLC, at 919-851-3311.
