Minnesota Workplace Injury, Illness Rate at an All-Time Low in 2017

The estimated workplace injury and illness rate in Minnesota in 2017 was the lowest since 1973, the year the state began keeping track of workplace injuries, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) reported.

An annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses shows the state had an estimated 3.3 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time-equivalent (FTE) workers in 2017, compared with the 2016 estimated rate of 3.4 cases per 100 FTE workers. An estimated 72,500 workers suffered nonfatal workplace injuries/illnesses in 2017, compared to 73,600 estimated cases for 2016.

The Minnesota DLI collected injury and illness records from randomly sampled Minnesota private- and public-sector workplaces (excluding federal agencies). For 2017, around 4,700 establishments provided usable responses.

Nationally, an estimated 3,475,900 nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported in private- and public-sector workplaces for 2017 — a rate of 3.1 cases per 100 FTE workers.

Other results from Minnesota’s survey:

• Industries with the highest total injury/illness rates were construction (5 cases per 100 FTE workers), local government (4.8), and health care/social assistance (4.7).
• An estimated 21,860 worker injuries, 1.0 cases per 100 FTE workers, had one or more days away from work after the day of injury, a rate was unchanged from 2016. The median number of days of work disability for workers with one or more days away from work was six days in 2017.
• The back (19 percent) was the most commonly injured body part, followed by hands (11 percent) and the head (10 percent).
• The most common injury events were falls on the same level (15 percent); being struck by objects or equipment (13 percent); and overexertion while lifting (11 percent).