Among women, assault is among the most common workplace injuries

According to the National Safety Council, women are disproportionately impacted by workplace assault and a number of other injuries at work. For example, of all non-fatal assaults where the victim needed days away from work, women were the victims in 70%.

In 2017, a total of 12,820 women in the U.S. were injured by assaults at work. That’s a 60% increase since 2011, the group says. Men sustained 5,530 workplace assaults in 2017. The National Safety Council has been compiling preventable injury and death statistics for almost 100 years.

In addition to assault, women were also more likely to suffer other kinds of injuries:

• Accidental injury by another person (59%)
• Falls to the same level (57%)
• Repetitive motion injuries (61%)

The group also found that women were injured more often than men in certain economic sectors:

• Healthcare: 80% of non-fatal injuries and illnesses involve women
• Education: 61% of non-fatal injuries and illnesses involve women
• Management/business/finance: 60% of non-fatal injuries and illnesses involve women

Overall, in 2017, there were 169,936 preventable deaths and 47.2 million preventable injuries in the United States. The estimated cost of those injuries and deaths was $1,024.6 billion. In the workplace, the safety group found there were 4,414 preventable, injury-related deaths and the preventable injury rate per 100,000 full-time workers was 3.1. Although the preventable injury rate didn’t change over the 2016 rate, the number had been rising steadily for several prior years. The total cost for these injuries and deaths was estimated at $161.5 billion.

“Our workplaces should be safe havens for everyone, and these data show us we can do more to protect women in the workplace,” says a spokesperson for the Council. “As employers examine the biggest risks facing their workforce, we urge them to consider these trends and make sure safety is extending to all employees.”

If you have been injured at work, you are probably eligible for workers’ compensation. Employers sometimes do push back at these claims, such as by saying they are not work-related. You may benefit from having an experienced workers’ comp attorney assist you with filing the claim or appealing a claim that was denied.