Calif. Sees Downward Trend in Workplace Injuries, Accidents

The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced that workplace injuries and accidents declined in California in 2006 in all but four of 19 key industries compared to 2005.

Overall workplace injuries and accidents declined from 5.1 per 100 full-time workers in 2005 to 4.8 per 100 full-time workers in 2006, according to Len Welsh, the DIR’s chief of the division of occupational safety and health.

Of the 19 industries identified, the largest decline in injury and illnesses occurred in utility system construction, which dropped from 7.3 per 100 full-time worker injuries in 2005 to 5.1 per 100 full-time worker injuries in 2006.

Similarly, injuries and illnesses in the general construction industry declined from 7.1 in 2005 to 6.0 per 100 full-time workers in 2006 and in various construction specialties such as highway, street and bridge construction, which dropped from 7.7 in 2005 to 5.9 in 2006. In addition, poured concrete foundation and structure contractors as well as framing contractors achieved significant declines from 10.8 in 2005 to 5.5 per 100 workers in 2006 and from 14.8 in 2005 to 10.7 per 100 worker injuries and illnesses in 2006, respectively.

While four industries had slight overall injury and illness increases including agriculture (which includes forestry, fishing and hunting), services industry and education services, mining charted the largest increase from 2.7 in 2005 to 3.6 incidents in 2006 per 100 worker injuries and illnesses.

To review the 2006 illness and injuries statistics as well as past year statistics, visit www.dir.ca.gov/dlsr.

Source: DOSH