A recent Allsup study offers some interesting food for thought. For example, based on data gathered from 2011, Kansas came in fourth, tying with six other states, for being the most dangerous for workers.
Data was not available for 9 of the 50 states, but the study did find that, per 100 employees, Kansas had a rate of 0.9 workers who suffered injuries or illnesses that required either a job transfer or a restriction of job duties. To put those numbers in perspective, consider that the national average is 0.7 for such injuries per 100 workers.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the study is that workers with the same types of jobs — oil rigging, auto manufacturing and farming, for instance — were shown to be more likely to get injured in certain states than in others. So how can this be explained?
One reason may simply be environment. For example, a truck driver may be less likely to suffer work-related injuries on the flat and straight highways of Kansas than a truck driver on the curvy and mountainous roads of Virginia.
That isn’t to say that transport industry workers in Kansas don’t suffer their fair share of work-related injuries, but environment may be one reason as to why there is so much variance in injury rates within the same types of work.
Another reason for the disparity may have to do with how different states report work-related injuries.
In any case, Kansas workers who have been injured on the job should be aware of the appropriate course of legal action for filing a workers’ compensation claim. Compensation is not automatic after a work-related injury, and employees may encounter major obstacles in receiving the benefits they need and deserve.
Our Kansas City work accident site is a good resource for learning more about workers’ compensation in our state.
Source: business.time.com, “The Most Dangerous States To Work In America — And The Most Dangerous Jobs To Have In Them,” Gary Belsky, July 23, 2013
