People who get sick or injured on the job are far less likely than a decade ago to miss more than a day's work, the government reports. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says private industry employers reported a total of 1.7 million injuries and illnesses that required recuperation away from work beyond the day of the incident during 1999. That's near historic lows and roughly the same total as in 1998, following steady declines from the high levels prevailing early in the decade. The number of injuries and illnesses reported with only restricted work activity rather than days away recuperating remained steady at slightly more than 1 million cases in 1999, after increasing by nearly 70 percent during the previous seven-year period.
Truck drivers continue to get hurt on the job more than any other profession.
In 1999 they reported more than 141,000 injuries or illnesses that required time off work. Join the crowd. As in the preceding six years, more than four out of 10 injuries and illnesses resulting in time away from work in 1999 were sprains or strains, most often involving the back. However, the 582,000 musculoskeletal injuries reported in 1999 accounted for more than one out of three of the injuries and illnesses requiring days off work. The Labor Department defines a musculoskeletal disorder as an injury or disorder of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage and spinal discs, often caused by repetitive motion.