Montana’s Occupational Injuries Down
The Montana Department of Labor and Industry’s annual survey of occupational injuries and illnesses shows injuries and illnesses in private industry are dropping, though still far above the national average.
Private industry workplaces in Montana reported 5 injuries and illnesses per hundred full time workers in 2010. A year earlier the incidence rate was 5.3 cases per hundred full time workers.
Montana’s incidence rate was above the national rate of 3.5 cases per hundred full-time workers in 2010 and 3.6 cases per hundred full-time workers in 2009.
Employers in Montana reported a total of 15,700 injuries and illnesses, and 6,800 of them involved days away from work during 2010. That’s compared with 17,200 injuries and illnesses and 7,600 days away from work cases reported in 2009.
Montana’s incidence rate of injuries varies by major industry division, manufacturing leading the way.
Rates based on the number of cases per 100 full-time workers are: 7.1 for manufacturing; 6.3 for utilities; 3.9 for mining; 1.0 for finance and insurance; 4.2 for education; 6.2 for retail.
Injuries and illnesses are reported when they result in lost work time, medical treatment other than first aid, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or require a transfer to another job.
“Although this is a move in the right direction, it reinforces the need to make safety part of Montana’s work culture,” Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly said in a statement.