Americans suffered fewer injuries on the job in 2013, according to government statistics published Thursday.
The incidence of non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses in the private sector fell last year to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Private sector industries with injury rates above the average were manufacturing, trade and transportation, education and healthcare, and leisure and hospitality.
The rate of occupational injuries for all workers, including state and local public sector employees, was 3.5 percent.
Workers with the highest injury rate, at 13.7 percent, were nurses and residential care-givers employed by state governments.
The second highest injury rate, at 10.2 percent, was suffered by local government employees working in “justice, public order and safety activities.”
Despite claims about the unique danger of policing in light of high profile killings committed by law enforcement officials, “justice, public order and safety” workers at the state level suffered an injury rate of 5.7 percent. There were higher rates of injury and illness among private sector workers wood product manufacturing, air transportation, message delivery, and certain types of agriculture and healthcare.
Another BLS study released earlier this year showed that the rate of fatalities per hours worked was lower in 2013 for police officers than it was for farmers, landscapers, maintenance workers, loggers, fishers, construction laborers, roofers, miners, power line workers, pilots, truck drivers, taxi drivers and chauffeurs, and trash collectors.
