Warning to Workers in Transportation, O&G, Manufacturing, Mining, and Utilities
For those at work in our transportation, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, and utilities industries here in Illinois and Indiana, there is a particular year-end research report worthy of consideration. It contains a compilation of the last six years of work injuries in these particular five industries, where workers suffered over 20,000 hospitalizations; 3,154 amputations; and 871 fatalities. Read, “ISN® Releases Latest Serious Injuries and Fatalities Insights Report,” published by ISNetWorld on December 18, 2023.
Private Industrial Review of Worker Deaths or Catastrophic Injuries on the Job
Who prepared this study? This industrial work injury report comes from a private company, ISN, hailing as “…the global leader in contractor and supplier information management services.” From its website:
ISN is the global leader in contractor and supplier information management. ISN’s platform, ISNetworld®, serves as a world-class forum for sharing industry best practices, benchmarking performance, providing data insights among its members and helping decision makers, including board members, ensure contractor and supplier risk is assessed and monitored.
The perspective must be considered, of course. Coming from this private enterprise with research devoted to a subset of industries, this work injury research is distinctly different from the broad-based, annual focus of the latest 2022 Census released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is internal industrial research covering several years and focusing upon specific industrial work accident events.
- For more on the new BLS warnings, read More Workers Are Dying In Work Accidents Per New BLS Report.
ISN provides a service to industrial employers and others needing help in regulatory compliance as well as maintaining internal corporate standards involving things like “…health, safety, quality, risk and regulatory information….” The ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper is available online for both members and non-members.
2023 ISN Serious Injuries And Fatalities Warnings to Workers
Summarized in its news release, ISN shares the following concerns for safety agencies; those representing worker victims and their loved ones; and workers in the five targeted industries of transportation, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Among them are the following:
Industrial Details
Some industrial workers here in Illinois and Indiana are warned in this industrial research release of particular dangers of serious or deadly risks on the job.
Transportation Industry
For those employed as drivers in the transportation industry, the ISN findings are particularly concerning. Truckers and others driving commercial motor vehicles or industrial trucks are already confirmed to be employed in one of the deadliest lines of work in this country. The dangers they face are particularly concerning here in our “Crossroads of America.” Read, Truck Driver Fatalities on the Rise: Fatigue, Speed, and the Trucking Industry.
From the ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper:
Transportation: Human factors continue to be an overwhelming contributor to transportation related deaths. Based on job titles, drivers were the second most likely group to experience a SIF event. Additionally, Transportation averaged the second highest average Days Away from Work in 2022 at 95 days per case.
Manufacturing Industry
Factory work here in Illinois and Indiana is big business. Chicago and Indianapolis both rank in the top ten manufacturing cities in the United States. State agency reports find that in each state, the manufacturing industry is the fourth deadliest workplace in Illinois and in Indiana. Read, Factory Worker Accidents in Indiana and Illinois.
From the ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper:
Manufacturing: Even with the wide variety of hazards and risks in the Manufacturing industry, ISN’s analysis shows that overall SIF rates have been below average compared to other industries. Also, in contrast to other industries, the most affected body part in the Manufacturing industry was Lower Extremities.
Mining Industry
Mining is a massive industry in both Indiana and Illinois. Not only coal but gravel, gypsum, sand, and stone are mined here, due in part to the famous Illinois Basin that overlaps both states. Large coal mines have been in operation in Illinois for over a century. Indiana’s coal mines provided over half of the state’s entire electricity needs. For details, read Alarming Rise in Miner Deaths on the Job in 2023, Warns MSHA.
From the ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper:
Mining: 89% of all SIF cases for Mining in 2022 were classified as Days Away from Work. In addition, each of these cases has an average of 88 days (about 3 months) away from the job, resulting in a significant number of injured workers not actively performing work.
Utilities Industry
Those employed in the utilities industry help to provide core needs for all of Illinois and Indiana, such as electricity, water, natural gas, and internet. Industrial definitions also include “…those that operate as producers or distributors of power.” Working in these critical functions can be particularly hazardous. For more, read Power-Line Work is One of the Most Dangerous Jobs in the Country.
From the ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper:
Utilities: The Utilities industry has moved the needle in the health and safety space regarding implementation of leading indicators and high-hazard work analysis. It consistently accounts for less than 1% of total SIFs reported month over month. While serious events are occurring, it is at a lower rate than many other industries.
Greatest Dangers on the Job Site
The ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities research also gives details regarding the type of bodily injuries that caused the deaths of workers in its focus industries. Among the findings:
Top Three Types of Fatal Accidents
We know that some types of worksite accidents cause most of the worker deaths in this country, and sadly despite this knowledge the same kinds of fatal incidents keep happening year after year.
The new industrial research study warns us that in its focus industries, most workers are likely to die from bodily injuries sustained from contact with an object or equipment. The second most common cause of death was physical harm sustained in a fall. For more on these types of accidents, read:
- Caught In-Between Hazards: One of OSHA’s “Fatal Four” Deadly Construction Accidents
- Dropped Objects: Workers Hurt or Killed by Falling Objects on the Job Site
- Fatal Falls on the Job and the Employers Failure to Protect Worker From Fall Risk
- Heavy Machinery Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
- Beware One of the Deadliest Dangers on Construction Sites: Struck-By Accidents
- Worker Injuries Involving Industrial Equipment, Machinery, or Tools.
From the ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper:
Contact with Object or Equipment was the most common cause of fatalities in 2022: As workforces ramped back up to pre-pandemic capacity, several factors played into fluctuations in SIF data for 2022, including a stabilization of exposure hours, temporary and new workforces, as well as a re-learning period from significant dips in work activity. 2022 saw a drastic increase in the number of fatalities, with the top three causes including Contact with Object or Equipment (55%), Trips, Slips and Falls (21%), and Overexertion & Bodily Reaction (13%).
The Deadliest Employers
Here in Indiana and Illinois, employers come in all shapes and sizes; however, for the five focus industries in the ISN research study, most will be companies or corporations with sufficient size to require state and federal regulatory compliance. Sadly, most employers regardless of size continue to avoid making worker safety a priority in their operations. For more, read: Safe + Sound Week 2022: Employer Workplace Safety Campaign.
Also see:
- When Workers Die Because of Employer’s Willful Violation of Safety Laws: New Indiana Statute
- Employers Continue to Violate OSHA Safety Standards for Fall Protection
- 2021 OSHA Top Ten List of Violations Released: Workers No Safer from Known Injury Risks.
The new ISN study advises that workers in its target industries employed by “mid-size corporations” suffered the greatest risk of death on the job in a work accident.
From the ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper:
Mid-size corporations experience the highest rates of fatalities: ISN’s analysis also considered the connection between company size and the likelihood of a SIF occurrence. Interestingly, the highest rate of fatalities is not correlated with the largest company size, but rather mid-size corporations. Much like Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), smaller companies who have a SIF event occur are seeing the biggest impact in their overall SIF rate for each SIF event. Regardless of company size, SIFs have a significant impact on both the affected individual and the organization.
Another Warning to Workers of Great Risk of Injury or Death in On-the-Job Accident
This new research study from a “global leader” in workplace safety practices deserves our consideration in helping to find ways of keeping workers safe on the job, especially in the industrial sectors known to be dangerous.
These findings must serve as a warning to workers here in Indiana and Illinois on the job in our transportation, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, and utilities industries. They face an unacceptably high risk of life-altering harm or death on the job in preventable accidents.
Hopefully, the new ISN Serious Injuries and Fatalities White Paper will be helpful to employers and other in possession, custody, or control of aspects of these industrial worksites who have a legal duty of worker safety and care.
From ISN President and Chief Operating Officer Brian Callahan:
“As reducing SIFs remains a focus across industries, ISN is committed to developing avenues for organizations to meet their safety goals and ensuring they have access to the latest tools and best practices to improve hazard recognition. From the company level down to the individual, organizations can intimately scrutinize the competency of contractors to safely perform work through ISN’s suite of tools. By enabling organizations to
For more, read “New Report Reveals Contact with Objects and Equipment Was the Most Common Cause of Workplace Fatalities in 2022,” written by Robert Yaniz Jr. and published by OSH Online on December 21, 2023.
Another year-end research study confirms that for many of our industrial workers the risk of serious injuries or dying on the job remains tremendously high with statistical trends warning of increasing risk for many in high-risk worksites like transportation, manufacturing, and mining. Please be careful out there!
