From the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association … Just-released U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2018 workplace injury and illness data show a ready mixed concrete industry incident rate of 3.9 in 2018, unchanged from the prior year. Over the past decade, the injury- or illness-rooted lost work time benchmark among producers has ranged from the 2017-18 lows to 6.3 in 2014.
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SOURCES: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; NRMCA |
BLS defines the metric around the number of lost day, restricted duty day or medical case injuries/illnesses. Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and are calculated as (N/EH) x 200,000, where N = number of injuries and illnesses; EH = total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year; and, 200,000 = base for 100 equivalent full-time workers working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year.
Overall, NRMCA notes, the 2018 BLS data shows a steady downward trend as ready mixed producers stress safe and healthy work practices, plus training and education. The association’s recently launched ThinkFirst effort is aimed at perpetuating a steadfast culture of safety and emphasizing strategic actions throughout operational tasks.
NRMCA published its analysis of incident rates as BLS unveiled overall statistics for 2018, when private industry employers reported 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses, unchanged from the prior year but sustaining a flat or downward trajectory from an annual 3.5 million injuries or illnesses BLS logged at the beginning of the decade. Last year also saw private employer incidence rates for “total recordable cases,” “days away from work,” and “days of transfer and restriction only” remain the same as 2017 levels.
The figures are based on estimates from the latest BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Bureau data for 2018 also show reports of 900,380 private workplace injuries or illnesses causing a worker to miss at least one day, essentially unchanged from 2017. Results from the 2018 SOII contain the first national estimates for emergency room or hospital visits—333,830—for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses requiring days away from work. BLS will follow up this with a companion Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries report.