The estimated direct costs for occupational injuries and illnesses reached $40.1 billion in 1999, with over $200 billion of indirect costs.

  In 2000, more than 5.7 million injuries and illnesses were reported in private sector workplaces.

  On an average day, 153 workers lose their lives as a result of workplace injuries and illnesses, and another 15,600 are injured. That's one workplace death or injury every five seconds.

  In 2003, 12.9 percent of wage and salary workers were union members.

  Among major private industries, transportation and utilities had the highest union membership rate, at 26.2 percent. Construction (16.0 percent), information industries (13.6 percent), and manufacturing (13.5 percent) also had higher-than-average rates.

  Incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by
industry (2002) - click here

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts employs 68,010 state government employees. There are an additional 95,340 public service employees hired by city and local governments throughout Massachusetts.

The majority of MA state employees are Social Workers working for the Courts, Police, Correctional Institutions, Fire Departments and other Public Order and Safety departments.

55% of Massachusetts' Local and County employees are public administrators, police officers and fire fighters.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that healthcare workers in hospital settings sustain 384,325 percutaneous injuries involving contaminated sharps / needles annually. When non-hospital healthcare workers are included, the best estimate of the number of neddlestick injuries involving contaminated sharps is 590,164 per year.

In 2002,12.6% of nurses and personal care employees required some length of leave from work due to occupational injury. 9.7% of hospital workers sustained on the job injuries requiring time off, job transfer, or duty restriction. Medical workers and healthcare providers are among the highest risk group for workplace injury, and are one of the largest groups of claimants for workers' compensation benefits.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) consistently reports higher than average (5.7 injured workers per 100) workplace injury rates for healthcare workers. The rate of injury incidents in some medical sectors are twice the national average, including hospitals and nursing care facilities.

Work-related accidents in 1992 caused 8,500 deaths and injured 3.3 million people. During that year, work-related accidents cost 115.9 billion dollars in medical bills and insurance payments.

Nursing aides/orderlies are the most frequent healthcare occupation filing a workers compensation claims (33.2%).

Only experienced counsel can advise you of the appropriate course of action to increase the probability of winning your claim. Your attorney can also provide information on the ways that claims can be settled including arbitration, mediation, and collective bargaining. Again, a competent attorney will develop a strategy to ensure the best results in your claim. It is important to remember that if you retain an attorney because you have been denied benefits or face a change in benefits, that law states that the majority of attorneys’ fees will be paid by the Workers’ Compensation Insurer.

Contact us today or complete an online case evaluation form for an assessment of your Worker’s Compensation case