Washington State Plagued by Workplace Injuries, Illnesses

New research from the personal injury law firm Bader Scott is a sobering, even distressing wake-up call for Washingtonians.

Based on nonfatal work-induced injuries and illnesses, Washington is the second most perilous state for workers, according to a recently commissioned Bader Scott study. (More accurately, Washington is tied with Vermont and neighboring Oregon for second place. This is still a mortifying distinction.)

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Bader Scott devoted considerable energy to poring over data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The firm's goal was to determine "which states have the highest occurrences of nonfatal work-related illness or injuries per 100 full-time workers."

Washington averages 3.9 occurrences per 100 employees. The state's workforce is about four million strong. Oregon has half as many workers; Vermont's labor pool (approx. 350,000) is even more diminutive.

Maine's reputation for love, peace and harmony is directly contradicted by the Bader Scott study. With an average of five incidents per 100 workers, Maine is by one measure the most treacherous state for the toiling masses.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Louisiana. Workers here are less likely than anywhere else in the country to be felled by sickness or injury.

Union membership is tacitly discouraged in Louisiana, one of 28 right-to-work states. It has no minimum wage at the state level. But if we're talking strictly about physical well-being, workers in the Bayou State are getting around just fine - more than fine, actually.

Washingtonians have their, ahem, work cut out for themselves. We clearly skimp on workplace safety to an alarming degree. We stand out even in a country notorious for its lax attitude about worker welfare.