Presenter reviews 2024 workplace injury data, urges training and 'ask for help' in 2025

Mike Stagg, a safety presenter, reviewed roughly 900 workers' compensation claims from 2024 during a virtual "Safety Moments" presentation and urged organizations to emphasize training, mechanical assists and a culture of asking for help to reduce injuries in 2025.

Stagg told attendees that strains were the single largest category in 2024 (194 reported strains), followed by struck-by incidents (154), slips and falls (146) and cuts and punctures (97). He said lifting accounted for the largest share of strains (about 35 percent) and that injuries tended to cluster among employees with less than one year or one to four years on the job — with an unexpected uptick among those with 15 to 24 years of service.

The data, Stagg said, also showed higher costs for older workers: while 26-to-35-year-olds made up the largest share of some claim categories, the 46-to-55 age group generated higher average claim costs. "As we get older ... it costs more to put us back together," Stagg said.

Why the repeat among 15-to-24-year tenures? Stagg attributed that pattern to complacency and shortcuts taken by experienced staff. "When we get complacent, then we get hurt," he said, noting the same pattern appeared across strains, struck-by incidents and slips and falls.

On mechanisms and prevention, Stagg highlighted specific findings and recommendations: - Strains: 35% from lifting, 8% pulling, 6% carrying and 6% twisting or bending; prevention tactics include proper lifting technique, pre-work warm-ups, ergonomics training, mechanical assists such as dollies or handcarts, and encouraging employees to ask for help. "The biggest thing we can do though to help prevent strains ... is to ask for help," Stagg said. - Struck-by: about 22% involved assaults or contact with aggressive individuals (noted in law enforcement contexts), 17% resulted from objects falling, 11% from motor vehicle incidents, 10% from collisions with stationary objects and 6% from defensive-tactics training; Stagg recommended using nonlethal tools when appropriate, securing and storing loads, enforcing seat-belt and heavy-equipment seat-belt use, and regular defensive-driving training (he recommended at least every two years). - Slips and falls: 23% occurred on the same level, 17% involved snow or ice, 12% were due to uneven surfaces, 10% to trip hazards (hoses, cords), 7% to holes/openings and smaller shares to ladders and liquids; Stagg recommended nonslip footwear, maintaining three points of contact on stairs and handrails, ladder-safety refreshers and sidewalk maintenance programs. - Cuts and punctures: 34% were from non-powered tools (box cutters, knives), 25% from lifting/moving objects with protrusions, with smaller shares from power tools, assaults and dog bites; he advised using sharp blades ("a sharp blade is a safe blade"), cutting away from the body, sharps containers and cut-resistant gloves.

Stagg emphasized training as the throughline: "Train, implement, and enforce," he said, recommending that defensive-tactics practice be limited to muscle-memory intensity (less than 50 percent) to reduce training injuries among older or long-tenured officers. He also pointed attendees to prior webinars on ergonomics and ladder safety available on the group's YouTube channel and the Reliant system.

Meeting host Jason closed by urging practical application of the guidance: "Just do it right every single time so you can go home safe at the end of the day," he said. The session ended with the presenter and host encouraging attendees to review their facility's 2024 incidents, select priority prevention steps for 2025 and continue training cycles.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the presentation.