Injury Statistics

OSHA logged recordable injury and illness incidence rates in the year 2000 for eight participating shipyards. On average, the workers analyzed in the study experienced 28.5 cases of recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time employees, with upper extremity injuries (32%), lower extremity injuries (22%), and back injuries (18%) accounting for the majority of cases. Musculoskeletal injuries represented 42% of the total cases, 69% of the days away from work cases, and 58% of the restricted or light-duty-day cases. The MSD group incident rate was 10.9 MSDs per 100 full-time employees.

More remains to be learned about the relationship between workplace activities and the development of MSDs. However, the experiences of numerous shipyards that successfully used ergonomics solutions to reduce the occurrence of MSDs have provided a sufficient basis for taking action to better protect employees.

To learn more about Ergonomics visit our Shipyard Ergonomics Online Training web page.