May 30, 2007 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Workplace injuries and illnesses among mechanics

Most of the injuries and illnesses to automotive service technicians and mechanics in 2005 were due to contact with object or equipment (44.5 percent) or to overexertion (21.6 percent).

[Chart data—TXT]

Contact with object includes being struck by an object (22.0 percent of the total), struck against an object (11.3 percent), and caught in an object, equipment, or material (5.6 percent). For injuries and illnesses involving contact with object and equipment, 19.5 percent involved vehicles, 13.9 percent involved hand tools (nonpowered) and 9.2 percent involved engine parts.

For overexertion injuries, 31.0 percent involved tires and wheels, and 23.6 percent involved engine parts and accessories. More than half (59.3 percent) of the overexertion injuries were due to overexertion in lifting objects.

This information is from the BLS Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities program. To find out more, see "Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities to Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics, 2003 to 2005," in Compensation and Working Conditions Online, May 2007.