In a recent safety alert blog, Texas Mutual reported nearly 6 percent more severe workplace injuries in 2023 compared to the previous year.

The construction industry topped the list, according to the workers compensation insurer, with more than triple the number of reported claims of any other industry.

The six industries shown in the accompanying chart with the highest number of claims remained in the same rank order as in 2022.

Though construction and mining businesses reported more claims this year, most other industries reported fewer compared to 2022.

With almost two-thirds of the specific construction industries reporting more claims in 2023 than the previous year, the insurer noted the three with the largest increase were the following:

• All other specialty trade contractors (133 percent increase)
• Oil and gas pipeline and related structures construction (175 percent increase)
• Power and communication line and related structures construction (500 percent increase)

In addition, there were 150 percent more reported electrocution-related claims in the construction industry in 2023. Over one-third of these incidents occurred while the employee was also working at heights.

In 2023, the workers compensation insurer reported an increase in incidents for employees who have been on the job between one and six years. Texas Mutual indicates this sometimes happens as employees become complacent during their job duties, neglecting safety protocols.

Among serious reported claims in 2023, there was a nearly 50 percent increase in claims where an employee was struck by an object or heavy equipment, the insurer found, noting that although most of these injuries happened to employees with one year or less of experience, it was employees with one to six years of experience who saw over twice as many of these claims compared to the previous year.