Highlights from the 2023 Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Annual Report

Worker injuries decreased in the past year, continuing a trend

#1: The number of worker injuries and illnesses in Pennsylvania in 2023 was 162,694, a decrease of approximately 2.8 percent from the 167,254 in 2022. Worker injuries have remained relatively consistent since Pennsylvania changed its method for counting workers’ compensation claims in 2014. That year, Pennsylvania saw 177,316 worker injuries and illnesses.

#2: Worker fatalities remain relatively low. The 84 worker fatalities in 2023, though up two from 2022, remain within the range of annual fatalities that have occurred over the past decade. Since 2013, annual worker fatalities have ranged in number from 65 to 85. In the decade before that, there were between 100 and 154 annual worker fatalities, which itself was a decreasing range from the decade before.

The relatively steady rate of worker injuries and fatalities may reflect various factors, such as improved workplace safety regulations, increased employer focus on worker safety (thanks, in part, to claimants’ attorneys and worker advocacy groups), improved safety equipment, and better healthcare that prevents injuries or illnesses from becoming fatal. Additionally, the sustained decrease in injuries and fatalities could be the result of an increased number of remote workers, which leads to fewer workers at job sites and on the commonwealth’s roads.

Though plenty of on-the-job dangers remain, Pennsylvania workers are less likely to die from a work injury today than they were for most of the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Soft-tissue injuries make up a majority of workplace injuries

#3: Soft tissue injuries accounted for over 50 percent of work injuries. Strains and sprains represented 35.6 percent of worker injuries. Contusions, crush injuries, and bruising represented 21.7 percent of workplace injuries. Cuts, lacerations, and puncture wounds accounted for 15.6 percent of worker injuries.

#4: Injuries to the upper extremities (including hands, arms, and shoulders) accounted for the highest number of worker injuries out of all body areas, with 37.9 percent of injuries, followed by the lower extremities (including knees, legs, and feet) with 22.6 percent of injuries. Head injuries accounted for 12.6 percent of worker injuries, while back injuries accounted for 11.2 percent.

#5: Overexertion was the most common cause of Pennsylvania workplace injuries in 2023, causing 25.6 percent of all injuries. The other top causes of worker injuries last year included struck-by accidents or being struck by falling/flying objects (22.1 percent), struck-against accidents (11.5 percent), and falls on the same level (9.2 percent).

With overexertion representing the most frequent cause of worker injuries, it makes sense that soft tissue injuries would account for a majority of those injuries. Although safety equipment and regulations can prevent traumatic workplace accidents, the high rate of overexertion suggests employers are not staffing shifts appropriately, which can lead to workers overexerting themselves to keep up with quotas or other performance metrics.

It’s important to note, however, that insurance carriers make these classifications, which are often conservative because the classifications are made soon after an injury occurs and without diagnostic testing. An injury initially classified as a sprain of the lumbar spine might, upon further testing and review, be diagnosed as a herniated disk or a fractured spine.

Trade, transportation, healthcare, and education lead Pennsylvania industries in worker injuries

#6: Trade and transportation workers saw the highest rates of worker injuries in 2023, with 44,084 injury cases—a decrease from 47,621 in 2022. Trade, along with transportation & warehousing, accounted for most of the injuries in this industrial category, with 28,354 injuries and 15,730 injuries, respectively.

#7: The education & health services category had the second highest number of worker injuries and illnesses among industrial categories. Workers in health care & social assistance accounted for 28,943 injury/illness cases, followed by 13,548 cases for educational services workers and 10,221 injuries/illnesses for hospital workers.

#8: Pennsylvania’s manufacturing industry also saw a relatively high rate of worker injuries/illnesses, with 22,176 cases in 2023, a slight decrease from 22,700 cases in 2022.

#9: Workers aged 25-29 saw the highest number of work-related injuries and illnesses in 2023, with 19,280 cases, representing 11.9 percent of total work injuries/illnesses. Workers aged 30-34 followed closely with 11.6 percent of injuries/illnesses, then workers aged 35-39 with 10.2 percent of cases. However, the median age of injured workers was 40.6 years. The highest number of worker fatalities was in the 50-54 age group, with 14 reported fatalities, followed by 11 fatalities in the 65-plus age group.

Trade, transportation, healthcare, education, and manufacturing ranking among the top industries for worker injuries/illnesses reflects the size of these industries within Pennsylvania’s economy. Thus, it’s not surprising that so many workers within those industries suffered work-related injuries or illnesses.

The age-based injury statistics, however, tell an interesting story. Many more younger workers get injured because they have not yet learned how to protect themselves against injury. As for the higher fatality rates among older workers, it’s understandable that older workers might overly rely on their experience to keep them out of harm’s way, cutting safety corners in the process that can lead to fatal injuries.

Claim petitions have increased, while mediations have only been partially successful

#10: The Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system saw 39,637 petitions assigned to workers’ compensation judges in 2023, an increase of 9 percent from 2022 (36,360 petitions assigned). These petitions included 8,560 claim petitions, 5,564 penalty petitions, 4,949 petitions for approval of compromise and release, 4,407 petitions to terminate benefits, 3,617 petitions to review compensation benefits, and 2,692 petitions to suspend compensation.

#11: The Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication conducted 7,851 mediations in 2023, which led to 3,345 cases being resolved. However, that means only approximately 42.6 percent of mediations resulted in a case resolution, which is lower than the ideal 65 to 75 percent success rate.

The eyebrow-raising statistic here is the number of penalty petitions, which claimants typically file when they are not receiving the workers’ compensation benefits they are legally entitled to because of actions taken by their employer or the employer’s insurer. That claimants filed 65 penalty petitions for every 100 claim petitions speaks volumes about the lengths employers, insurers, and their counsel go to prevent their own workers from receiving the workers’ compensation benefits Pennsylvania law provides them.

Workers’ compensation indemnity costs remain stable

#12: Total workers’ compensation insurance indemnity costs remained stable in 2021 and 2022 (the latest years’ figures covered by the annual report). Total indemnity paid in 2021 was $2.679 billion, while indemnity costs rose slightly in 2022 to $2.68 billion.

In 2022, commercial insurance carriers paid over $1.9 billion in indemnity and medical compensation, representing 72.1 percent of total indemnity and medical compensation paid. Self-insured employers paid $604 million, or 22.5 percent of the total paid. The State Workers’ Insurance Fund paid over $88 million, or 3.3 percent of total indemnity and medical compensation paid. Group self-insurance funds paid over $55 million, or 2.1 percent of the total. Together, these four groups paid over $1.43 billion in indemnity and over $1.24 billion in medical compensation.

The “sky is falling” rhetoric from employers and insurers about increasing workers’ compensation costs are not supported by these figures. Total indemnity costs have hovered in the $2.6 billion range from 2020 to 2022, compared to the $2.8 billion range in 2019 and 2018.

Required reading for workers’ compensation attorneys and others who are part of the commonwealth’s workers’ compensation system

As is the case each year, the 2023 Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation and Workplace Safety Annual Report should be required reading for those of us who eat, sleep, and breathe workers’ compensation in Pennsylvania. I encourage anyone who is frequently involved in the Pennsylvania workers’ compensation system, especially attorneys on both sides of the workers’ compensation bar, to read the report to gain a better understanding of current trends regarding worker injuries and illnesses in the commonwealth.

Jerry M. Lehocky is a founding partner of Pond Lehocky Giordano LLP, the largest workers’ compensation and Social Security disability law firm in Pennsylvania, and one of the largest in the United States. He can be contacted at jlehocky@pondlehocky.com.

Reprinted with permission from the August 15, 2024 edition of The Legal Intelligencer © 2024 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited, contact 877-257-3382 or reprints@alm.com.