Department of Consumer & Business Services
Research & Analysis Section

Cover picture

The Workers' Compensation Division received 27,049 accepted disabling claims in 1998, a decrease of 873 claims from 1997. Employment increased by 36,100 workers. This resulted in a claims rate of 1.7 claims per 100 workers. This claims rate is a record low in Oregon.

Accepted Disabling claims Table




Note: Employment figures based on data from Oregon Employment Dept. Claims rates represent the number of claims per 100 workers. Disabling claims include fatal cases.





Of the 52 work-related fatalities recorded in 1998, 50 of the victims were men, and 2 were women. The youngest was a 19-year-old farmworker. The oldest was a 77-year-old truck driver.



Oregon Industries graph

Note: Excludes 8 claims in unreported industries. Because of rounding, percents may not sum to 100.%.



nature of injury or disease table

Sprains or strains of the back were the most common injury in 1998 accounting for 5,672 claims -- or 21.0 percent -- of the 27,049 claims accepted as disabling.

 

Event resulting in injury table

3,980 disabling claims were accepted in 1998 for falls to floors, walkways, or the ground, 3,264 for bodily reaction of the injured worker, and 2,701 for overexertion with containers.

 

Sourse of injury or disease

Note: The department adopted a revised coding system in 1996.
Therefore, the distributions of nature, event and source codes are
not always comparable to previous years' distributions.

 

Part of body affected graphic





Occupation of injured graph

Note: Excludes 534 claims with unreported occupations. Because of rounding, percents may not sum to 100.0%.


INJURY/DISEASE FACTS, OREGON, 1998

  • In 1998, 27,049 claims were accepted as disabling. The claims rate was 1.7 claims per 100 workers, a record low in Oregon.
  • Of the total 27,049 claims accepted as disabling, 8,776 (32.4 percent) were for women; 260 (1.0 percent) were for workers under age 18; and 335 (1.2 percent) were for workers aged 65 or over.
  • Occupational diseases comprised 12.4 percent of the accepted disabling claims.
  • Some 567 workers filed more than one injury or disease claim and had those claims accepted in 1998.
  • The average weekly wage at time of injury for 1998 claimants was $467.91 while the average weekly wage for all Oregon workers, excluding federal, was $563.11.
  • The mining industry had the highest claims rates (4.6), followed by the transportation and public utilities industries (3.9). The finance, insurance and real estate industry had the lowest rate (0.5).
  • Workers in their first year with an employer filed 10,016 claims, 37.0 percent of the total accepted in 1998.

 



OSHA info


Facts in this leaflet are excerpted from
OREGON WORKERS' COMPENSATION
CLAIMS CHARACTERISTICS, 1998
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
this publication is available in alternative formats
by calling (503) 378-4100(V/TTY).
Visit the DCBS Web site at: http://www.cbs.state.or.us

 
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If you have questions about the information contained in this document please contact by e-mail or phone:
Juli Ross-Mota Research Analyst, Research & Analysis Section, Information Management Division (503) 947-7359.

This document was originally published in October 1999.
[Printed form: 440-2055(10/99/com)]

In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), this publication is available in alternative formats
by calling (503) 378-4100 (V/TTY).

The information in IMD publications is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission.