Want to have a better chance of a safe workplace? Then work for a business with 10 or fewer employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tiny businesses have the lowest injury rates. While your chance of being injured at work in the next year - about 1 in 20 - is slightly lower than it was a few years ago, it still adds up to 4.2 million U.S. workers who were injured on the job in 2005.
Which businesses inflict the most pain and injury on their employees? The culprits: companies with more than 50 workers and businesses in the construction and manufacturing sectors. Businesses with 10 or less employees had only 2 injuries per 100 full-time workers, compared to 5.8 injuries for firms with 50 to 249 workers and 5.2 injuries for companies with 250 or more workers. Add to this the sobering number of 5,702 workers who died due to their injuries in 2005, and it’s clear there still remains much to be done. If you happen to work in the most injury prone industries – beet sugar manufacturing (18.3 injuries per 100 workers), light truck and utility vehicle manufacturing (17.8 injuries per 100 workers), or at an iron foundry (17.1 injuries per 100 workers) – it may be time to reconsider your career choice. An aside… we were wondering what was so dangerous about sugar beets. Well, according to the World Bank’s Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines for Sugar Manufacturing (view PDF): The most common risks for accidents in sugar manufacturing are trips and falls caused by slippery floors, stairs, and elevated platforms, the incorrect use of equipment (for example, packaging and transport equipment), contact with sharp edges on process equipment (for example, replacing worn beet slicing knives in the slicing machines), and explosions (for example, sugar drying and storing, gas, fuels, boilers). Ouch. While most work-related injuries happen to those who work in factories or outside in the ‘real world’, there’s still things office bound workplaces can do to improve occupational health and safety. On our end we're advocating seatbelts for all office chairs and rubber-walled boardrooms.
