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Massachusetts Sees Biggest Jump in Fatal Workplace Injuries

Author Beasley Media Editorial

Some workplace injuries are minor: paper cuts (though those stink!), sipping coffee before it properly cools, walking into walls due to reading our cell phones. They’re all very common workplace hazzards. Other workplace injuries can be far more serious. And some can sadly and unfortunately lead to fatalities. When it comes to that last category, the news isn’t so great for Massachusetts.

A new study done by personal injury law firm John Foy & Associates has found Massachusetts to have highest increase in fatal workplace injuries in the United States over 10 years.

The study used data reported by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on the number of workplace injuries between 2012 and 2021. That info was used to calculate the percentage of increase or decrease of fatal workplace injuries in each state. Massachusetts increased the most – jumping by a whopping 107%!! No other state in the nation increased by more than double over the ten year period other than Massachusetts. Missouri had the second largest jump in fatal workplace injuries, increasing by 60%.

So the second biggest jump was a 60% increase while ours was 107%?!? Massachusetts, it looks like we need to invest in some seriously rugged bubble wrap clothing! The news isn’t all bleak though. Massachusetts is not unsafe, we’ve just seen the biggest increase. In one year looked at (2012) Massachusetts actually had fewer workplace fatalities than any other state.

Iowa had the biggest percentage decrease in fatal workplace injuries. Their decrease over the decade was 50%. North Dakota saw a similarly significant drop in fatal workplace injuries, noting a decrease of 49%.

Obviously any fatalities are too many so hopefully next year we’ll be high fiving as we top the fatal workplace injuries decrease list. Be safe, Bay State!

While we’re on the topic of work, let’s throw together a fun country playlist featuring 11 awesome country songs about work. If the 7 Dwarves knew these songs first we may never have made “Hi Ho” the official Get To Work Song of forever. Maybe it would have been one of these gems:

Relax: Here Are 11 Awesome Country Songs About Work

  • 1. 9-5

    Dolly Parton 

    The quintessential working woman song from one of the hardest working women in showbiz! Dolly wrote this and released it in 1980 for the movie of the same name, that she also starred in. It also served as the “centerpiece” of her 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs album. (Wikipedia)

     

  • 2. Hard Workin' Man

    Brooks and Dunn 

    Ronnie Dunn, of Brooks and Dunn, wrote this #4 hit. It was the title track of their sophomore album from 1993. The popular duo also won a Grammy Award for this working song. scoring the honors of 1993’s Best Country Performance by a duo or group. 

     

  • 3. Smoke Break

    Carrie Underwood 

    A top 2 hit for Carrie in 2015, this song isn’t about smoking at all. It’s just a metaphor for needing a break, when the stress of every day gets to be too much. Underwood wrote this one with Chris DeStefano, and Hillary Lindsey. “A stiff drink and a long drag” are merely a more lyrically dramatic way of saying a hard working person needs an escape once in a while.

  • 4. It's 5:00 Somewhere

    Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett

    You know how a work day can feel sluggish. That old clock is moving slow and the workday passes like molasses. We’ve all been there. Oh, and your boss just puts you over the limit. You want to call him out, but instead you just call it a day. That’s what Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett are singing about in this iconic 2003 7 week #1 smash hit. It was the first #1 for Buffet and it put Alan Jackson on pop radio, as it was a crossover hit.

  • 5. Workin' Man Blues

    Merle Haggard

    The country legend wrote and recorded the ultimate ode to the “working man” in 1969. It went on to be covered by many artists, and became one of Hag’s signature songs. He considered it a tribute to fans, who were primarily blue collar workers. 

  • 6. 40 Hour Week (For a Livin')

    Alabama

    No song better exemplifies this topic than “40 Hour Week (For a Livin’). This 1985 hit from one of country music’s most successful acts is a literal salute to America’s blue collar workers. From the auto workers in Detroit, to the steel workers in Pittsburg. The tune resonated so much with listeners, it spent record amount of weeks at the top of the charts. Racking up a total of 19 weeks at #1.

  • 7. Drinkin' Class

    Lee Brice 

    Is this  you? We’re up when the rooster crows/ Clock in when the whistle blows/ Eight hours ticking slow/ And then tomorrow we’ll do it all over again…” Lee Brice hit the nail on the head in the story about all the hard working folks looking to release some pent up frustrations of the working class and joining the “Drinkin’ Class.” 

  • 8. Honey, I'm Home

    Shania Twain

    Shania turns around a classic 1950s way of life in one simple song. She’s had a hard day at the office and is requesting, if not demanding, her partner pour her a drink, rub her feet and get her something to eat. The artist who inspired a generation with her songwriting, subject matter and performances connected with every working woman on this 1998 #1 ditty.

  • 9. Little Man

    Alan Jackson 

    Jackon’s 1999 top 3 hit described his feelings about the demise of hard working small business people, and their struggle to survive in a big business, do-it-yourself world.

    “He pumped your gas and he cleaned your glassAnd one cold rainy night he fixed your flatThe new store came where you do it yourselfYou buy a lotto ticket and food off the shelfForget the little manForget about that little man”

  • 10. Shiftwork

    Kenny Chesney and George Strait

    This 2007 collab was released in December of 2007. It was the 3rd single released from Kenny’s Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates album. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard country charts.

  • 11. Blowin' Smoke

    Kacey Musgraves

    Always a clever songwriter, Kacey’s “Blowin’ Smoke,” from her debut album Same Trailer Different Park, paints a picture of a burned-out waitress who believes there’s a better life waiting for her. So many of us tell ourselves the same thing, but not all of us do anything about it. Mostly, we’re just “blowin’ smoke.” In the story she does leave behind the apron and her small town to catch a bus to Vegas. We’ve all worked jobs we didn’t like for money we didn’t like, and the trash talking is just a way to survive, unloading our frustrations and dreams.

     

Jackson Blue has been on Boston airwaves for over 20 years. He is a foodie family person with a passion for having fun forever. Jackson likes to write about food, restaurants, Massachusetts and Boston happenings.

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