Study of 130K Claims Finds Back Injuries Were The Restaurant Industry’s Most Expensive

Back-related injuries are the most expensive injuries to treat, a review of nearly 130,000 workers’ compensation claims from the restaurant industry shows.

A report by AmTrust Financial Services analyzed claims submitted to the company over the six-year period from 2018 to 2023.

A typical back claim averaged between $60,000 to $85,000, the report shows. Back injuries were analyzed by three categories: disc ($85,130), vertebrae ($67,362) and spinal cord ($60,609).

After the back, the highest average cost per claim were fracture ($22,837), cumulative injury ($21,435), multiple physical injuries ($14,278), strain ($10,671) and sprain ($4,326).

Related: Equipment Breakdown Tops Small Restaurant Claims List

The report also found that cuts, punctures and scrapes were the most common injuries in restaurants, but were relatively inexpensive to treat with an average cost of $1,798 per claim.

Claims for burns and scalds from hot surfaces and oil were the second most common restaurant injury. These injuries had an average claim cost of $4,326.

Muscle strains and sprains in the workplace were less frequently reported than cuts and burns, but were more expensive to treat with an average cost per claim of $10,672 and $9,966, respectively.

Fingers were the most injured body part. There were 20,660 reported finger injuries identified in the study. Multiple body parts were the next most commonly reported injury (13,243) followed by hands (12,051).