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Montana’s safety record is wobbly at best. Even with a comparatively large amount of jobs in natural resources, construction and other industries thought of as more hazardous than others, Montana shouldn’t have a safety record like this.
In Montana, our days lost to injury or illness is about 50% higher than the national average*. Montana has strikingly high frequency of indemnity claims—nearly 52% above the national average.** Finally, Montana is near the top of the list (number 4) in worker fatalities per state.**
Is this a geographical reality of working in the Rocky Mountains? Apparently not. The median number of claims was still 18% above our neighboring states.**
Some say it’s industry-related—after all, we have a higher concentration of more hazardous (mining, timber and agriculture) jobs than in most states. But again, this is a myth. In Montana, no one industry stands out as an injury or illness leader. While agriculture is highest, it is not markedly higher than jobs in retail, healthcare, or even mining and timber.*
We’re unsafe across the board.
We know how this affects workers: they’re more likely to get injured on the job. But how does this affect your bottom line, and Montana’s economy?
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