Oregon Has Lowest Workers’ Comp Year Ever, Still Above National Average

February 9, 2011

Great news for workers’ compensation administrators in Oregon: private sector work-related injuries and illnesses there were only 4.4 per 100 full-time employees during the 2009 calendar year, making it the lowest recorded total ever.

Oregonians files 48,304 work related injury cases in 2009, 52.6 percent of which resulted in lost work time (including days away from work, restricted hours/duties, or transfers), according to the 2010 Report on the Oregon Workers’ Compensation System.

The report, which is published annually by the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) , found that the DART rate (days away from work, restriction, or job transfer) was 2.3 for private sector cases in 2009, as compared to a rate of 1.9 for state government and 2.8 for local government workers. Overall, the public sector DART rate was 2.5. The highest DART rate among specific industry divisions was recorded by transportation and warehousing, with a rare of 4.8, while finance and insurance came in with the lowest rate of 0.1.

Because the state of Oregon has a higher-than-average proportion of its workforce in industries considered “hazardous” – at least according to the DCBS – Oregon’s total incidence rate of workers’ compensation cases exceeds the national rate by 22.2 percent, and the state’s DART rate is 27.8 percent above the national average. The number of illnesses and injuries reported in any given year are influenced by a variety of factors, including working conditions, worker experience and training, the state of the economy and the number of hours worked.