Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in Alabama — 2019

News Release Information

21-41-ATL
Thursday, January 14, 2021

Over 33,000 nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported among Alabama's private industry employers in 2019, resulting in an incidence rate of 2.5 cases per 100 full-time equivalent workers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that Alabama was among 14 states and the District of Columbia that had an incidence rate of total recordable cases (TRC) significantly lower than the national rate of 2.8. (Alabama was 1 of 41 states and the District of Columbia for which statewide estimates are available. See Technical Noteat the end of this release for more information about the survey.)

Alabama's findings from the 2019 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses include:

• TRC incidence rates in private industry ranged from 0.6 in financial activities to 3.8 in education and health services. (See table 1.)

• Two supersectors, with 40 percent of private industry employment, accounted for 53 percent of the occupational injuries and illnesses: manufacturing and trade, transportation, and utilities. (See table 2.)

• In private industry, the TRC injury and illness incidence rate ranged from 0.9 for establishments employing fewer than 11 workers to 3.2 for establishments employing 50 to 249 workers and for establishments employing 1,000 or more. (See table 3.)

• Alabama's private industry TRC rate of 2.5 in 2019 was similar to the 2018 rate. (See table 4.)

Characteristic	United States		Alabama
	Number (in thousands)	Rate (per 100 workers)	Number (in thousands)	Rate (per 100 workers)
Total cases	2,814.0	2.8	33.3	2.5
Cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction	1,558.2	1.5	16.8	1.2
Cases with days away from work	888.2	0.9	9.0	0.7
Cases with job transfer or restriction	670.0	0.7	7.8	0.6
Other recordable cases	1,255.7	1.2	16.5	1.2
Note: Because of rounding, components may not add to totals.

Private industry injury and illness case types

Of the 33,300 private industry injury and illness cases reported in Alabama, 16,800 were of a more severe nature, involving days away from work, job transfer, or restriction-commonly referred to as DART cases. These cases occurred at a rate of 1.2 cases per 100 full-time workers. Fifty-four percent of the DART cases in Alabama were incidents that resulted in at least one day away from work, compared to 57 percent nationally. Other recordable cases (those not involving days away from work, job transfer, or restriction) accounted for the remaining 16,500 cases in Alabama, at a rate of 1.2. In comparison, the national rate for other recordable cases was also 1.2.

In Alabama, the trade, transportation, and utilities supersector had a significant decline in both the TRC and DART incidence rates from the previous year. No other private industry supersector had a significant change in its TRC or DART incidence rate over the year.

In 2019, approximately 31,700 (95.2 percent) of private industry recordable injuries and illnesses were injuries. Workplace illnesses accounted for an additional 1,600 recordable cases.

State estimates

Private industry and public sector estimates are available for 41 participating states and for the District of Columbia for 2019. The private industry injury and illness rate was statistically higher in 20 states than the national rate of 2.8 cases per 100 full-time workers, lower in 14 states and in the District of Columbia, and not statistically different in 7 states. (See chart 1.) Caution should be taken when comparing rates among different states as some differences can be attributed to different industry composition within each state.

View Chart Data

Technical Note

The Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) is a Federal/State cooperative program that publishes estimates on nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. Each year, approximately 200,000 employers report for establishments in private industry and the public sector (state and local government). In-scope cases include work-related injuries or illnesses to workers who require medical care beyond first aid. See the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for the entire recordkeeping guidelines. The SOII excludes all work-related fatalities as well as nonfatal work injuries and illnesses to the self-employed, to workers on farms with 10 or fewer employees, to private household workers, to volunteers, and to federal government workers. For more information on the scope and sampling methodology see the SOII Handbook of Methods.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: (800)-877-8339.

Industry	Total recordable cases	Cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction			Other recordable cases
		Total	Cases with days away from work	Cases with job transfer or restriction
All industries including state and local government	2.5	1.2	0.7	0.5	1.2
Private industry	2.5	1.2	0.7	0.6	1.2
Goods-producing	2.8	1.6	0.8	0.8	1.1
Natural resources and mining	1.5	0.9	0.7	0.2	0.6
Construction	1.5	1.1	0.8	0.3	0.4
Manufacturing	3.3	1.9	0.9	1.0	1.4
Service-providing	2.4	1.1	0.6	0.5	1.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	2.6	1.5	0.7	0.8	1.1
Information	-	-	-	-	-
Financial activities	0.6	0.2	0.1		-
Professional and business services	0.9	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.6
Education and health services	3.8	1.6	0.8	0.8	2.2
Leisure and hospitality	2.6	0.9	0.8	0.1	1.6
Other services, except public administration	-	-	-	-	-
State and local government	-	-	-	-	-
State government	-	-	-	-	-
Local government	-	-	-	-	-
Note: Because of rounding, components may not add up to totals. Dashes indicate data not available. Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were 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). Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.

Industry	Total recordable cases	Cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction			Other recordable cases
		Total	Cases with days away from work	Cases with job transfer or restriction
All industries including state and local government	39.6	19.7	11.1	8.6	19.9
Private industry	33.3	16.8	9.0	7.8	16.5
Goods-producing	10.7	6.3	3.2	3.1	4.4
Natural resources and mining	0.3	0.2	0.1		0.1
Construction	1.4	1.0	0.7	0.3	0.4
Manufacturing	9.0	5.1	2.4	2.8	3.9
Service-providing	22.6	10.5	5.8	4.7	12.1
Trade, transportation, and utilities	8.6	4.8	2.3	2.5	3.7
Information	-	-	-	-	-
Financial activities	0.6	0.2	0.1		-
Professional and business services	1.4	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.9
Education and health services	7.2	3.0	1.5	1.5	4.1
Leisure and hospitality	3.6	1.3	1.1	0.2	2.3
Other services, except public administration	-	-	-	-	-
State and local government	-	-	-	-	-
State government	-	-	-	-	-
Local government	-	-	-	-	-
Note: Because of rounding, components may not add up to totals. Dashes indicate data not available. Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.

Industry	All establishments	Establishment employment size (workers)
		1 to 10	11 to 49	50 to 249	250 to 999	1,000 or more
All industries including state and local government	2.5	0.9	2.2	2.8	3.0	3.5
Private industry	2.5	0.9	2.1	3.2	3.1	3.2
Goods-producing	2.8	-	2.2	3.1	3.3	3.1
Natural resources and mining	1.5		0.8	1.7	3.9	-
Construction	1.5		2.0	2.0	0.5	-
Manufacturing	3.3	-	2.8	3.5	3.5	3.1
Service-providing	2.4	1.0	2.1	3.2	2.9	3.3
Trade, transportation, and utilities	2.6	1.5	1.9	3.5	3.9	2.1
Information	-	-	-	2.0		-
Financial activities	0.6	-	-	0.3	0.4	0.5
Professional and business services	0.9	-	1.3	1.4	0.4
Education and health services	3.8		3.3	4.4	5.5	5.5
Leisure and hospitality	2.6		2.2	3.7	5.4	-
Other services, except public administration	-	-	-	-		-
State and local government	-	-	-	-	-	-
State government	-	-	-	-	-	-
Local government	-	-	-	-	-	-
Note: Because of rounding, components may not add to totals. Dashes indicate data not available. Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were 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). Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.

Industry	Total recordable cases		Cases with days away from work, job transfer, or restriction
	2018	2019	2018	2019
All industries including state and local government	2.7	2.5	1.3	1.2
Private industry	2.7	2.5	1.4	1.2*
Goods-producing	3.0	2.8	1.7	1.6
Natural resources and mining	-	1.5	-	0.9
Construction	2.3	1.5	1.1	1.1
Manufacturing	3.2	3.3	1.8	1.9
Service-providing	2.6	2.4	1.3	1.1*
Trade, transportation, and utilities	3.2	2.6*	2.0	1.5*
Information	1.9	-	1.1	-
Financial activities	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.2
Professional and business services	0.9	0.9	0.5	0.3
Education and health services	4.1	3.8	1.7	1.6
Leisure and hospitality	2.8	2.6	1.0	0.9
Other services, except public administration	2.0	-	1.1	-
State and local government	-	-	-	-
State government	-	-	-	-
Local government	-	-	-	-
Note: Dashes indicate data not available. Incidence rates represent the number of injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers and were 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). * An asterisk indicates a significant difference between the current year and prior year values, when testing at 95% confidence level. Data are coded using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). For more information on the version of NAICS used in this year, see our Handbook of Methods concepts page: www.bls.gov/opub/hom/soii/concepts.htm.