Workers’ Compensation Claims: More Than a Number
Philadelphia’s workers are the engine that makes the city run, and they make the city great. But many are injured in the workplace each year throughout Philadelphia and elsewhere in Pennsylvania, and those incidents can be devastating to an employee and his family, let alone to the rest of the state when the sum of all work-related injuries and illnesses is considered.
There is a strong labor community here and they are to be commended for their efforts to lobby for greater workplace safety. But there is still a lot of room for improvement, and it would be in the best interest of the state if every company took a more aggressive stance on minimizing the potential for an injury to occur or for illness to spread in the work environment.
More than Figures, These are Families
If you have ever suffered a workplace injury that has forced you to miss some amount of work time, then you already know the strains that can be placed on a family by unexpected loss of income. For others, these are only numbers and they do not understand how challenging the aftermath of a worksite accident is. All of the following statistics can be found in the 2006 Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation and Workplace Safety Annual Report issued by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
- 2006 Total Injuries and Illnesses: 110,657
- 2006 Fatalities: 133
- 2005 Total Injuries and Illnesses: 102,259
- 2005 Fatalities: 122
The categories of employment that were most prone to injury and illness in both of these years were:
- Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
- Educational and Health Services
- Manufacturing
But the fatal injuries and illnesses broke down differently:
2006
- Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
- Construction
- Manufacturing
2005
- Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
- Manufacturing
- Public Administration
To be treated as more than just a number in your workers’ compensation claim, contact the Philadelphia workers’ compensation attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., at 215-238-1130.