Top three retail workplace injuries with highest payouts are…

Injuries in the workplace are a costly problem for retailers.

Injuries to retail workers cause employees to miss an average of 24 days from work, according to claims data analyzed by AmTrust Financial Services, which analyzed more than 20,000 workers’ compensation insurance claims from the company’s retail clients with loss payments from 2016 to 2018. The AmTrust Retail Risk Report found that the top three injuries with highest average payout are:

•    Fall or slip from ladder or scaffolding: $21,000;
•    Strain or injury by repetitive motion: $14,000; and
•    Motor vehicle collision with another vehicle: $13,900.

The report also found that among the top 10 injuries, 23% of claims payments were associated with lifting, and that the average loss paid is greater for men ($11,641) than women ($7,030). The most hazardous retail classes sectors are meat, fish, or poultry retail; hardware; automobile parts; and barbershop or hair salon.

“Analyzing three-years of data gave us new insights into why people in retail miss work, what kind of injuries are the worst or most expensive for employers, and how long it takes for an employee to return to work,” said Matt Zender, senior VP, workers’ compensation strategy, at AmTrust. “It reinforced our belief that training – in both operations and safety -- is essential in the retail sector, especially for younger workers where we tend to see more workers’ compensation claims. Lost time is detrimental to both the injured employee and the employer. This report provides visibility into retail risk and insight into how to decrease the occurrence and severity of these costly situations.”
 
The report is available in AmTrust’s Resource Center.