HARTFORD SURVEY FINDS BLUE-COLLAR WORKERS FACE HIGHER RISK OF INJURY

A national workplace survey sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services Group has found that although blue-collar workers expect to be injured more frequently than white-collar workers, many lack a full understanding of workers’ compensation systems. Specifically, the survey showed that 58 percent of blue-collar households have a family member who has been injured on the job, requiring medical attention. Only 38 percent of white-collar workers reported the same. The survey, which used the job classifications defined by the U.S. Department of Labor, also found that the average blue-collar worker expects to be injured on the job more often than the average white-collar worker. In fact blue-collar workers say it’s quite likely they’ll be injured on the job at least once, while their white-collar peers believe there’s little chance of that happening. Despite the high-expectation of injury among blue-collar workers, most have little understanding of the system that protects them. The same holds true for white-collar workers. In fact, only 62 percent of the
survey respondents knew that medical costs related to an on-the-job injury would usually be covered by workers’ comp. Twenty-five percent incorrectly believe that on-the-job medical costs would be covered by their employers’ medical insurance, eight percent erroneously think they would be covered by the employee’s disability insurance, and another five percent mistakenly assume these costs would be paid out-of-pocket by either their employer or themselves.

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