Dive Brief:

• Data for 2012, released by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the injury/illness rate for the construction industry was 3.7 per 100 full-time workers last year, down from 2011's 3.9 per 100.
• The rate has been decreasing yearly since 2007, when it was 5.4 per 100 workers.
• The report is based on private-sector reporting to the bureau, and it came out on the same day that its sister Labor Department agency, OSHA, said it may require quarterly electronic reporting of injuries and illnesses.

Dive Insight:

One caution that was voiced but is impossible to measure is that workers may be underreporting their injuries and illnesses so they can collect bonuses that contractors set up as incentives for keeping workplaces safe. A worker who decides not to report a workplace injury was never hurt at all as far as the statistics are concerned.