These Are the Most Common, and Expensive, Injuries at Work

Overall, some of the common causes for injury was handling materials (32 percent), followed by slips or falls (16 percent) and being struck or colliding with an object (10 percent), according to Travelers, an insurance company, which analyzed 1.5 million claims over a five-year period. It then determined what injuries were most common, how they were caused and how much they cost.

Handling materials refers to an activity that might involve lifting, lowering, filling, emptying or carrying an item, and this category caused a whole range of injuries from strains, sprains, cuts, punctures, contusions or fractures.

You may think these types of injuries are caused by more-hands on jobs, such as construction. However, that’s not the case, as manufacturing and retail environments actually saw more material-handling related injuries than any other industry.

Though the average sprain, fracture or puncture wound are among the most common injuries, more severe injuries such as amputations (for an average cost of $102,500), dislocation ($97,100), electric shock ($55,000), being crushed ($54,600) and multiple traumas ($50,000) find their way on companies' books.

Overall, some of the common causes for injury was handling materials (32 percent), followed by slips or falls (16 percent) and being struck or colliding with an object (10 percent), according to Travelers, an insurance company, which analyzed 1.5 million claims over a five-year period. It then determined what injuries were most common, how they were caused and how much they cost.

Handling materials refers to an activity that might involve lifting, lowering, filling, emptying or carrying an item, and this category caused a whole range of injuries from strains, sprains, cuts, punctures, contusions or fractures.

You may think these types of injuries are caused by more-hands on jobs, such as construction. However, that’s not the case, as manufacturing and retail environments actually saw more material-handling related injuries than any other industry.

Though the average sprain, fracture or puncture wound are among the most common injuries, more severe injuries such as amputations (for an average cost of $102,500), dislocation ($97,100), electric shock ($55,000), being crushed ($54,600) and multiple traumas ($50,000) find their way on companies' books.a