The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recently released the 2015 Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation and Workplace Safety Annual Report. This report represents the most recent data collected by the Commonwealth and outlines the achievements of the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication, and the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board as the provisions of the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act are administered. This blog summarizes the leading types and causes of work injuries in 2015.
Injury type
*In 2015, the four leading types of injury accounted for almost 90 percent of all reported injuries. These four injury types accounted for 147,613 of the 166,102 injuries reported in Pennsylvania for the year.
*The most frequent type was a sprain or strain injury which numbered 21,746 and accounted for 38.4 percent of injuries. The majority of sprain/strain injuries affected the trunk.
*Contusion, crushing and bruising accounted for 18.1 percent.
*Injuries in the miscellaneous category of “other” accounted for 16.2 percent of all injuries.
*Cuts, lacerations, and punctures accounted for 16.1 percent of injuries in 2015. Most of these injuries affected the upper extremities.
Injury cause
*In 2015, overexertion from lifting, pulling, pushing, etc. was the leading cause of injury. Overexertion injuries numbered 43,079 and accounted for 25.9 percent of all reported injuries.
*The next leading cause of injury was in the “struck by” category and included injuries from falling and flying objects. There were 32,185 incidents of these injuries reported and they accounted for 19.4 percent of all reported injuries.
*”Falls on the same level” were the next most frequent cause of injury with 20,269 injuries reported, accounting for 12.2 percent of all injuries.
*”Struck against” injuries accounted for 11.6 percent of all injuries and numbered 19,267.
Since James Powell, Sr., founded Powell Law in 1906, our attorneys have represented all types of workers in workers’ compensation cases. Powell Law’s decades of experience make it the clear and obvious choice for representation in workers’ compensation matters in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and surrounding areas. Contact Powell Law at (570) 961-0777. The consultation is FREE!
