The Most Costly & Fatal Work Injuries

Jul 1, 2024 | Claims Process, WC & Other Laws

The Most Costly & Fatal Work Injuries – The division of Workers’ Compensation in Colorado creates a massive report on work injuries with all kinds of statistics on claims annually. In this blog, we talk about the statistics shown for the year 2013 for work injuries in the state of Colorado.

Fatalities

In 2013, there were 73 fatalities on the job. The most dangerous gender and age to be working at is male from 50 to 59. 92% of the fatalities were men, and 31% were 50 to 59. 23% were in their 40s and about 20% were over 65.

Most fatalities come from the transportation and warehousing sectors, car crashes by and large.

Injuries

Additionally, these are ranked by cause of injury and what’s called lost time. In Workers’ Compensation, an injury is not a lost time injury unless it results in 3 or more shifts of lost work.

The number one kind of injury that leads to lost time with 36.4% strains, is when you’re lifting something and you feel a pop or a twist in your back, arm, or leg. Number two at 13% are contusions. Then there are fractures and lacerations, but those are about 6%.

Workers’ Compensation system

In Colorado, we have the Workers’ Compensation system which is a law designed to make sure that if you were injured on the job you get immediate access to basic benefits. These are medical benefits, lost wage benefits, and compensation for permanent impairment.

How much you get depends on your injury, your adjuster, your doctor, and everybody in the system except for you is motivated by one thing, which is to pay the least amount possible.

That’s why injured workers need someone who knows the system and who can fight for them to try to get them the most.