Study Finds Maine Has Highest Rate of US Workplace Accidents

A recently released study conducted by High Rise Financial, a pre-settlement legal funding company, has found Maine to be the U.S. state with the most nonfatal workplace accidents.

The study, which analyzed the most recent data from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, revealed that 4.7 out of every 100 workers in Maine get injured on the job—a rate 67.8% higher than the yearly national average.

Maine also had the highest rate of injury or illness that led to restricted work or a job transfer, involving 1.4 out of every 100 workers. According to a press release on the study, job transfers are often the result of work restrictions leading to a temporary change in an injured worker’s routine job functions.

Oregon and Vermont placed next in the job injury rankings, each with an accident rate of 3.8 out of 100 full-time workers.

Oregon also ranked high for the rate of cases resulting in days away from work, with 1.7 of every 100 workers taking one or more days off due to workplace injuries. 

The remaining top 10 states on the list, from fourth to tenth, were Washington, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. 

The study also drew a correlation between the higher rate of workplace injury in northern states and a higher percentage of people working in more dangerous jobs, including heavy tractor and truck drivers as well as healthcare, which was cited as one of America’s most dangerous professions. In Maine, recent data shows 15,890 out of 592,000 registered employees (2.68%) are home health and personal care aides, while 14,380 (2.43%) are registered nurses. Maine also has 9,610 (1.62%) heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers.