Police Officers in Highest Injury Job in U.S.
Significant National Increase Trend in Assault-Related Injuries For Police Officers
Research review: Police officer nonfatal injuries on the rise
Cops are three times more likely to sustain a nonfatal injury at work than all other U.S. workers, and injuries from assaults are on the rise
Much is known about on-duty fatalities among police officers; however, data on non-fatal injuries is nearly non-existent.
This month, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published an article in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine" on non-fatal injuries among law enforcement officers that shows that officers are three times more likely to sustain a nonfatal injury at work than all other U.S. workers.
This study is the first to look at both intentional and unintentional nonfatal injuries among officers on a national scale.
Much of the increase was due to the high number and corresponding significant increase of assault-related injuries. In fact, this is the first study to demonstrate an upward national trend in assault-related injuries among police officers. Our main findings are:
About 669,100 law enforcement officers were treated in emergency departments across the nation for non-fatal injuries between 2003 and 2014.
The overall non-fatal injury rate of 635 per 10,000 full-time equivalents was three times higher than all other U.S. workers rate (213 per 10,000 full-time equivalents).
The nonfatal injury trend for law enforcement officers increased across the 12-year period and this was in contrast with the trend for all other U.S. workers, which significantly decreased.
Assault-related injury rates significantly increased about 10% annually from 2003 to 2011.
The leading causes of injury were:
Assaults & violent acts (36%),
Body motion injuries such as overexertion from running and repetitive motion injuries (15%),
Transportation incidents (14%), and
Contact with objects and equipment (13%). oshatoday.com