Kentucky is home to more than 5,000 factories, or manufacturing-related facilities, and over 250,000 Kentuckians work in a manufacturing facility, the KY Cabinet for Economic Development says. The state’s biggest manufacturing sectors are motor vehicles and parts, food and beverages, tobacco products, and primary metals.
The manufacturing industry includes factories, plants and mills engaged in the mechanical or chemical transformation of materials or substances into new products. The Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health (KY OSH) Program, which administers industrial safety laws in Kentucky, says that in 2020 there were 15 fatal on-the-job injuries in Kentucky’s manufacturing industry. Further, it says transportation equipment manufacturing, wood product manufacturing and fabricated metal product manufacturing are among the state’s industries with highest incidence rates of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says that in the private manufacturing industry nationwide during 2020, there were 373,300 total recordable cases of nonfatal injuries and illnesses. Of those, 135,900 required days away from work, 108,800 required days of job restrictions or job transfers.
Is working in a factory bad for your health? It certainly has its risks. Factory workers in Kentucky are severely injured, disabled and killed in manufacturing accidents caused by unsafe work conditions, faulty machinery and equipment, and a lack of safety precautions. At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, our workers’ compensation attorneys for injured factory workers help Kentuckians who are injured in manufacturing accidents obtain the compensation they are due for support while they are out of work or on restricted duty.
If you have been injured while on the job in a Kentucky factory, plant or mill, we can tell you about the full workers’ comp benefit you deserve in a no-cost consultation. Then we can work to make sure you recovery your full benefit. Contact us today to set up your FREE personalized consultation.
What Are The Dangers of Working in The Manufacturing Industry?
The Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims says in its 2021-’22 report that the department received 4,750 injury reports from the manufacturing sector, or about two injuries for every 100 workers. This resulted in 490 workers’ compensation claims, or claims resulting from 10% of reported injuries. To be eligible for workers’ compensation, an injured worker must miss work for more than seven days because of a work-related injury.
The manufacturing industry is dangerous because the work often involves:
- Working alongside heavy machinery, which creates a risk of crushing and tearing injuries and amputations from being caught or pulled into machines.
- Working on slippery and cluttered factory floors or from heights, which leads to fall hazards.
- Frequent heavy lifting and/or repetitive tasks, which can cause overexertion injuries.
- Contact with caustic chemicals and toxic substances, which can cause burns and other skin eye or lung irritation or poisoning.
- Sharing space with powered industrial vehicles, such as forklifts, power jacks, lift trucks, reach trucks, etc., leading to workers being hit by vehicles or by materials falling from vehicles. Vehicle operators may be injured in accidents, too.
- The unexpected release of energy from electrical or mechanical energy sources causing electrical shock and possible death.
- Long-term exposure to noise from loud machinery or other sources, which can cause irreversible hearing loss.
Mitigating Health and Safety Risks in KY Factories
Every year, thousands of Kentucky workers are injured or become ill as a result of health or safety hazards at work. To understand occupational health and develop priorities for workplace injury and illness prevention, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), state labor organizations and other groups created a set of 25 occupational health indicators (OHIs). They include:
- Non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses reported by employers,
- Work-related hospitalizations,
- Amputations identified in state workers’ compensation systems,
- Hospitalizations for work-related burns,
- Carpal tunnel syndrome cases identified in state workers’ compensation systems,
- Pneumoconiosis hospitalizations,
- Hospitalizations for low-back disorders.
In Kentucky, the KY Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance Program (KOSHS) at the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC) developed a set of six Kentucky-specific OHIs that focus on occupational health priority areas for our state.
Yearly measures of these OHIs indicate where more work is necessary. The Kentucky Occupational Health Indicators Report 2023 includes measurements for the 25 national OHIs and the six Kentucky-specific OHIs, which are:
- Occupational Motor Vehicle Collision First Reports of Injuries Filed with Workers’ Claims: The 2019 rate of motor vehicle collision claims or first reports of injury was the highest in recent years, at 86 per 100,000 covered workers. The 2020 rate was 53 per 100,000 workers (935 actual claims or reports), but additional claims within the two-year window for filing a workers’ comp claim may have altered this rate.
- Fatal and Nonfatal Commercial Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries: From 2019 to 2020, the total number of commercial vehicles involved in collisions in Kentucky decreased by 33%, but the number of fatal injuries to commercial vehicle drivers was at its highest since 2011.
- Occupational Fall First Reports of Injury and Claims Filed with Workers’ Claims: In 2020 in Kentucky, there were 5,205 first reports of injury associated with occupational fall injuries, and the fall incidence rate was 297 per 100,000 covered workers, down from 377 per 100,000 covered workers in 2019.
- Work-Related Traumatic Injuries Treated in Kentucky Trauma Hospitals: In 2021, there were 339 work-related injuries treated in Kentucky’s reporting trauma facilities, making up 2.5% of all traumatic injuries reported to the state trauma registry, down from 2.8% in 2020 and 3.3% in 2019.
- Work-Related Traumatic Brain Injuries Treated in Kentucky Acute Care Hospitals: In 2021, Kentucky’s rate of traumatic brain injuries dropped to its lowest point in the past 10 years of 3 per 100,000 employed persons.
- Work-Related Concussions Reported to the State Workers’ Compensation System: In 2020 in Kentucky there were 236 first reports of injury associated with concussions. There were 13.5 concussions reported per 100,000 covered workers in 2020, a decrease from 16.9 in 2019.
Get the Compensation You Deserve After a Factory Injury
Kentucky officials like those at KOSHS and KIPRC are working to reduce occupational accidents and injuries in our state, but thousands of Kentucky factory workers continue to be injured on the job every year. When accidents happen, employers should make sure their injured employees receive all of the workers’ compensation benefits they qualify for and are promised under Kentucky law.
At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, our workers’ compensation attorneys for injured factory workers will continue to fight for those injured by manufacturing accidents or working conditions. If you have been injured on the job, contact us today for a FREE case review of your claim and the benefits you should be receiving. If you aren’t being treated correctly by your employer, we can change that. Call us at (877) 809-5352 now!
