2004 Lost Worktime Injuries and Illnesses: Characteristics and Resulting Days Away from Work — 2005-12-13

A total of 1.3 million injuries and illnesses in private industry required recuperation away from work beyond the day of the incident in 2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U. S. Department of Labor. This was a decline of 56,600 illnesses and injuries, or 4.3 percent, from 2003. The rate of such injuries and illnesses in 2004 also declined to 141.3 per 10,000 full time workers from 150.0 in 2003. Median days away from work�a key measure of the severity of the injury or illness�was 7 days for all cases in 2004, down from 8 days in 2003. As was the case in previous years, more than 4 out of 10 of injuries and illnesses were sprains or strains, with most of these stemming from overexertion or falls on the same level.