Employers in Montana reported a total of 13,700 recordable Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) injuries and illnesses in 2019, with 11,500 of those in the private industry, according to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry 2019 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses released this week.

Data from the 2019 survey predated the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montana.

Of the private industry injuries and illnesses in 2019, 5,600 were serious enough to require recuperation away from work, a transfer from or restricted duties at work, or both, the survey showed.

The 13,700 recordable injuries and illnesses last year compared to 14,100 injuries and illnesses reported in 2018.

The Department of Labor conducts the annual survey to track workplace injuries and illness each year. The department’s Data Management Section works with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on the survey. The results are drawn from record-keeping forms maintained by participating employers. According to DLI, “Injuries and illnesses are reported when they result in lost work time, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, restriction of work or motion, or require a transfer to another job.”

The survey found that private industry workplaces in Montana reported a rate of 3.8 injury and illness cases per hundred full-time workers in 2019. The incident rate is slightly down from 2018, when 3.9 cases per hundred full-time workers were recorded.

Additionally, 5,600 of the private industry incidences in 2019 were serious enough to require recuperation away from work, a transfer from or restricted duties at work, or both.

According to the survey, Montana’s most dangerous industry sectors in 2019 included recreation, manufacturing and health care.

“The industries with the higher incidence rates per 100 full-time workers were arts, entertainment and recreation, at 5.7, manufacturing, with 5.3, and health care and social assistance at 5.1.”

Among the lowest incident rates by sector were industries such as finance, insurance and technical services. Per 100 full-time workers, the information sector had an incidence rate of 1.2, professional, scientific and technical services had a rate of 1.1, and finance and insurance had the lowest rate at 0.5.

The entire 2019 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses publication can be viewed at http://erd.dli.mt.gov/Portals/54/Documents/Work-Comp-Claims/OSHS/SOII-Report_2019-Final-Accessible.pdf?ver=2020-11-05-110759-973.

DLI is hosting a free, virtual SafetyFestMT Bozeman event from Nov. 16-20. Montana employers and workers are encouraged to register for the safety trainings by visiting safetyfestmt.dli.mt.gov/bozeman-2020. Forty topics are included on the agenda, including an Assistance for Business Clinic and a panel covering COVID-19 and Workers’ Compensation.