Rate of Musculoskeletal Disorders 5 Times Higher for Firefighters

The rate of workers’ compensation claims involving musculoskeletal disorders in Washington state was 2.7 per 100 full-time equivalents for firefighters, compared to 0.5 per 100 FTE for all other occupations. Those data are included in the latest newsletter from the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention program, part of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. The numbers were from workers’ comp claims from 2012 through 2016. For firefighters, one out of every four workers’ compensation claims was for musculoskeletal injury of the ba...