FATALITY AND INJURY PROFILE FOR THE SERVICE INDUSTRY In 2005, there were 5702 occupationally related deaths in all of private industry, while

the service industry had 2736 (48%) of these fatalities the goods-producing industry had 42% fatalities. In Table 1.2, the major contributors to these fatalities are depicted.

Injuries are examined somewhat differently and the statistical data are presented usually in four different ways. These are as follows:

1. Nature of injury or illness names the principal physical characteristic of a disabling condition, such as sprain=strain, cut=laceration, or carpal tunnel syndrome.

2. Part of body affected is directly linked to the nature of injury or illness cited, for example, back sprain,finger cut, or wrist and carpal tunnel syndrome.

3. Source of injury or illness is the object, substance, exposure, or bodily motion that directly produced or inflicted the disabling condition cited.

Examples are a heavy box, a toxic substance,fire=flame, and bodily motion of injured=ill worker.

4. Event or exposure (type of accident) signifies the manner in which the injury or illness was produced or inflicted, for example, overexertion while lifting or fall from a ladder (see Appendix A).

Tables 1.3 through 1.6 allow us to start identifying the most common facets of an injury profile. The total employment for the service industry in 2004 was 84,896,300 and the total number of injuries was 850,930. The data in the tables denote the most frequently occurring factor resulting in the injury=incident or resulting from the injury=incident.

It would appear from a rough observation of Tables 1.3 through 1.6 that a service industry employee would suffer a sprain or strain to the trunk and in most cases the back or possibly the lower or upper extremities because of one of the three causes:

worker motion=position; floors, walkways, or ground surfaces; or containers that resulted in an overexertion=lifting or fall on the same level. As it can be seen, these

TABLE 1.2

Occupational Death Cause in Percent

Cause Service Industry (%) All Private Industries (%)

Highway 34 25

Homicides 16 10

Falls 9 13

Struck-by 7 11

Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2005.

Available at http:==bls.gov.

TABLE 1.3

Nature of Injury by Number and Percent for the Service Industry

Nature of Injury Number Percent

Sprains=strains^a 377,760 44

Fractures^a 55,450 6.5

Cuts=punctures^a 63,220 7

Bruises^a 82,610 10

Heat burns 12,780 1.5

Chemical burns 4,330 0.5

Amputations 2,710 0.3

Carpal tunnel syndrome 10,810 1.3

Tendonitis 3,950 0.4

Multiple trauma^a 34,450 4

Back pain (only) 28,600 3

Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.

Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004. Available at http:==bls.gov.

a Five most frequently occurring conditions.

TABLE 1.4

Body Part Injured by Number and Percent for the Service Industry

Body Part Injured Number Percent

Head 51,500 6

Eyes 19,070 2

Neck 15,960 1.8

Trunk^a 314,190 37

Back^a 204,240 24

Shoulder 56,350 7

Upper extremities^a 173,260 20

Finger 58,080 6.8

Hand 30,810 3.6

Wrist 38,000 4.5

Lower extremities^a 183,780 22

Knee 69,250 8

Foot and toe 39,050 4.6

Body systems 10,940 1.3

Multiple body parts^a 95,490 11

Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.

Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004. Available at http:==bls.gov.

a Five most frequently injured body parts.

TABLE 1.5

Source of Injury by Number and Percent for the Service Industry

Sources of Injuries Number Percent

Parts and materials 51,680 6

Worker motion=position^a 119,340 14

Floor, walkways, or ground surfaces^a 168,620 20

Hand tools 29,420 3.5

Vehicles^a 88,830 10

Health care patient^a 57,220 6.7

Chemicals and chemical products 11,070 1.3

Containers^a 124,700 15

Furniture andfixtures 36,700 4

Machinery 40,940 4.8

Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004.

Available at http:==bls.gov.

a Five most frequent sources of injury.

TABLE 1.6

Exposure=Accident Type by Number and Percent for the Service Industry

Type of Accidents Number Percent

Struck by an object^a 101,390 12

Struck against an object 51,670 6

Caught in or compressed or crushed 25,290 3

Fall to lower level 46,820 5.5

Fall on same level^a 130,260 15

Slips or trips without a fall 27,400 3

Overexertion^a 227,350 27

Transportation accidents^a 51,070 6

Fires and explosions 1,100 0.1

Assaults=violent acts 22,790 2.7

Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004.

Available at http:==bls.gov.

a Five most frequent exposures or type of accidents that led to an injury.

data give us some information to start our search for the hazards that contributed to these injuries.

1.8 OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESSES IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY Occupational illnesses have always been underreported. For this reason, they do not seem to get the same attention as injuries since their numbers or causes are not of epidemic proportions. The reasons why illnesses are not reported include the following:

. Not occurring in real time and usually having a latency period before signs and symptoms occur.

. Not readily observable and have been linked to personal habits and expo-sure from hobbies. There is the question of multiple expoexpo-sures and syner-gistic effects on-the-job and off-the-job.

. Not always easy to detect cause and effect relationships.

. Often difficult to diagnose since many exhibit flu or cold symptoms.

These are not excuses for not pursuing preventive strategies, but an explanation of why occupational illnesses are more difficult to accurately describe and identify their root cause. The 84,896,300 employees experienced 131,500 (53%) cases of illness during 2004 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This compares to the total number of illnesses reported by all of industry that equaled 249,000 of which 53%

was attributed to the service industry. The most common reported types of occupa-tional illnesses for this period are found in Table 1.7.

The remainder of this book is directed toward managing, preventing, and control-ling hazards that occur within the goods and material service sector of the service industry. This includes the wholesale trade, retail trade, and warehousing sectors.

It is important to keep in mind that because of the complexity and diversity within the industry sectors of the service industry, no cookie cutter approach could be used nor is a one-size-fits-all approach possible. There has to be a mixing of

TABLE 1.7

Occupational Illnesses by Number of Cases and Percent for the Service Industry

Illness Type Number Percent

Skin diseases and disorders 24,900 19

Respiratory conditions 13,000 10

Poisoning 2,000 1.5

Hearing loss 4,000 3

All others 87,400 66.5

Source: From Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.

Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004. Available at http:==bls.gov.

information and data from diverse sources such as the NAICS and the outdated SIC, since all agencies have not changed to the new system. Also, even within the supersectors and the sectors themselves there is not a common approach to the management of safety and health, identification of hazards compatible, or the same approach for each varied sector, nor should we expect these to be. This is the reason that by consulting the table of contents of this book and Industrial Safety and Health for Goods and Materials Services, Industrial Safety and Health for Infrastructure Services, and Industrial Safety and Health for Administrative Services, decisions can be made regarding which book would be most useful to your particular business. In some cases, one book will fulfill a company’s safety and health needs while in other cases all the four books will be most beneficial.

REFERENCES

Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. Available at http:==www.bls.

gov, Washington, 2007.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2005. Available at http:==bls.gov.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor. Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 2004. Available at http:==bls.gov.

In document Handbook of Safety and Health for the Service Industry (Page 32-38)