Occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in public transportation

Injuries and illnesses to bus drivers endanger not only their lives but also the lives of their passengers. In 2013, approximately 5,780 transit and intercity bus drivers experienced a days-away-from-work injury or illness while on the job.

This article from the Bureau of Labor Statistics explores occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities to bus drivers and urban transit workers and examines how individual transit systems are collecting and analyzing their own employee safety data. The findings reveal that mass transit systems have taken steps to protect their employees from harm on the job and that injuries and illnesses to bus drivers and urban transit workers have declined in recent years.

Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses – 2013

Slightly more than 3.0 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers in 2013, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.3 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, according to estimates from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The rate reported for 2013 continues the pattern of statistically significant declines that, with the exception of 2012, occurred annually for the last
11 years.

Key findings from the 2013 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

 The total recordable cases (TRC) incidence rate of injury and illness reported by private industry employers declined in 2013 from a year earlier, as did the rate for cases of a more serious nature involving days away from work, job transfer, or restriction—commonly referred to as DART— marking the first decline in the DART rate since 2009.
 The rate of reported injuries and illnesses declined significantly in 2013 among the manufacturing, retail trade, and utilities sectors but was statistically unchanged among all other private industry sectors compared to a year earlier.

More from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys and lots of other health stats

From the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

2010 Emergency Room Visits
Office-Based Medical Provider Visits
2010 Outpatient Visits
Asthma Medication Use among Adults with Reported Treatment for Asthma, United States, 1998-1999 and 2008-2009
Trends in Use and Expenditures for Depression among U.S. Adults Age 18 and Older, Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 1999 and 2009
The Uninsured in America, 1996-2011: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 65


From the National Center for Health Statistics

Multiple Chronic Conditions Among Adults Aged 45 and Over: Trends Over the Past 10 Years



From the National Institute on Drug Abuse
Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2011 (Volume II): College Students & Adults Ages 19-50

Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses by occupation, 2009

In 2009, the total number of reported nonfatal occupational injury and illness cases that required days away from work to recuperate was 1,238,490 cases for private industry, state government, and local government; the total incidence rate was 117 cases per 10,000 full-time workers.

Work Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities, 2008

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau) reports the number and frequency of work-related fatal injuries and nonfatal injuries and illnesses each year. The Bureau also provides detailed information on the circumstances of the injuries and illnesses and on the characteristics of the affected worker.

Many Americans Go To Work While Sick

Americans not taking sick days

Nearly half (44%) of Americans would consider going to work with a fever, and about a third of Americans (32 percent) said they would show up to work no matter how sick they get, according to a new survey from Halls.

With an unemployment rate upwards of nine percent this October, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the survey revealed that one in five Americans (19 percent) feel pressure by their boss or supervisor to head into work when they're sick. One in three (31 percent) Americans said they wouldn't get paid for taking off on a sick day, and one in 10 (11 percent) said they would likely fall behind on their bills by taking a sick day. Additionally, more than 10 percent of Americans thought they would not likely receive their next pay raise or promotion, or worse, would lose their job for calling out sick.

More HERE.

Nonfatal occupational injuries, illnesses: govt workers

Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work for State government and local government workers, 2008
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

There were 277,680 occupational injuries and illnesses with days away from work reported for State and local government combined in 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fifty percent occurred in service occupations, including health care support and protective service workers. In contrast, 22 percent of the injuries and illnesses in private industry occurred in service occupations.

State government workers sustained occupational injuries and illnesses at an incidence rate of 170 cases per 10,000 full-time workers and required a median of 8 days away from work to recuperate. The incidence rate for local government workers was 195 and the median days away from work was 9. For comparison, the incidence rate for private industry was 113 cases per 10,000 full-time workers.

There were a total of 206,580 cases of days away from work in local government and 71,100 cases in State government. Sprains and strains comprised 43 percent of the injuries and illness in local government at an incidence rate of 83 cases per 10,000 full-time workers. For State government, sprains and strains comprised 39 percent of the cases at a rate of 67 per 10,000 full-time workers.

Cancer Death Rate Steadily Declining

Cancer death rates are falling steadily, according to the American Cancer Society’s annual cancer statistics report, Cancer Facts & Figures 2009, and its companion article “Cancer Statistics, 2009,” published in the Society’s CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The drop is driven in large part by better prevention, increased use of early detection practices, and improved treatments for cancer.

Cancer death rates dropped 19.2% among men during 1990-2005 and 11.4% among women during 1991-2005. Cancer incidence rates are also on the decline – they decreased 1.8% per year among men from 2001-2005 and 0.6% per year from 1998-2005 among women.

Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Counts, Rates, and Characteristics, 2006

The data, which come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, identify the industrial, occupational, and worker groups having relatively high risks of job-related injury and illness. The data also provide the means to focus attention on the severity of the incidents and how they occurred.

This report includes charts and text highlighting summary, case, and demographic data gathered from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses. Supplementary data, such as injury and illness rates by detailed industry and establishment size, can be accessed here. The online version of the Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Profiles System can be found here.