Survey Says Workers Believe They Won't Be Injured at Work

More than half of all working Americans don't believe a workplace injury will happen to them, according to a survey conducted by Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance. The insurance company conducted a telephone survey of 614 working adults in March.

Additionally, 42 percent of those surveyed do not believe a work injury will permanently disable them, and 48 percent only think about themselves or a loved one being injured on the job a few times a year or less.

But the reality is very different, the National Safety Council statistics show that 3.9 million workers experienced a disabling injury in 2001.

Working Americans do believe both employers and employees have a role to play in keeping workers safe. An overwhelming majority said employers are responsible for creating safe environments for employees and enforcing safe work practices. At the same time, most respondents said employees have a responsibility to act safely at work and take a more proactive role in ensuring injuries do not happen.