Falls to lower level top list of costliest construction injuries: 2021 Liberty Mutual index

Boston — The top five costliest injuries in the construction industry in 2018 had a combined price tag of nearly $9 billion, according to the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index – an annual ranking of serious, nonfatal workplace injuries based on direct workers’ compensation costs involving more than five days away from work.

Falls to a lower level was the costliest injury in the industry at almost $3.6 billion. That was followed by overexertion resulting from handling objects ($2.2 billion), struck by objects or equipment ($1.4 billion), falls on the same level ($990 million), and other exertions or bodily reactions ($670 million).

Those five injury types made up around 84% of all injuries in construction for the year.

“Understanding the top risks in the workplace is the first step in better protecting employees and the bottom line,” Jamie Merendino, general manager of risk control services at Liberty Mutual, said in a July 21 press release. “The Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index gives companies a critical starting point.”

Researchers used data from Liberty Mutual, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Academy of Social Insurance to compile the safety index.