title: The direct cost burden of 13years of disabling workplace injuries in the U.S. (1998-2010): Findings from the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although occupational injuries are among the leading causes of death and disability around the world, the burden due to occupational injuries has historically been under-recognized, obscuring the need to address a major public health problem.
  
  
  METHODS
  We established the Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index (LMWSI) to provide a reliable annual metric of the leading causes of the most serious workplace injuries in the United States based on direct workers compensation (WC) costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than $600 billion in direct WC costs were spent on the most disabling compensable non-fatal injuries and illnesses in the United States from 1998 to 2010. The burden in 2010 remained similar to the burden in 1998 in real terms. The categories of overexertion ($13.6B, 2010) and fall on same level ($8.6B, 2010) were consistently ranked 1st and 2nd.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The LMWSI was created to establish the relative burdens of events leading to work-related injury so they could be better recognized and prioritized. Such a ranking might be used to develop research goals and interventions to reduce the burden of workplace injury in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA. Electronic address: helen.wellman@libertymutual.com.
authors.forename: Helen R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Marucci-Wellman
authors.affiliation: Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Theodore K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Courtney
authors.affiliation: Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Helen L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Corns
authors.affiliation: Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Sorock
authors.affiliation: Center for Disability Research, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.affiliation: Evidera, London, UK.
authors.forename: Radoslaw
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wasiak
authors.affiliation: Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Y Ian
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Noy
authors.affiliation: Center for Injury Epidemiology, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matz
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Tom B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Leamon
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000191:economics*; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000191:economics*; D000328:Adult; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000191:economics*; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000191:economics*; D011634:Public Health; D012449:Safety / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States; D014937:Work; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000191:economics; D017132:Workplace / Q000191:economics
keywords: Burden; Falls; Overexertion; Prevention; Work-related injury