Survey Shows Half of Small Businesses Reported Claims in Last 5 Years

A bird flew into a roofer’s face broke their nose, another employee broke a foot as running from a spider, a robotic arm grabbed a worker and inflicted trauma to her chest, and a baby skunk bit someone at a worksite.

Workplace injuries happen, but some of the tales from a recent work injury survey were surprising.

A recent survey commissioned by Pie Insurance polled 1,034 small business owners (companies with one to 500 employees).

Beside the surprising anecdotes, the survey showed more than half of small businesses said they have had a workplace injury claim in recent years.

Findings include:

• 30% wished they had focused more on employee safety from the start of owning a business.
• 50% of small business owners cited having a workplace injury claim in the past five years.
• 13% of business owners said mental stress was the most common workplace injury their business has experienced in the past five years.
• When asked what their biggest workplace safety nightmare/worst-case scenario was, many cited unforeseen hazards like natural disasters, workplace violence and mental health.
• 35% of have not had to nor have plans to make adjustments in preparation for rising temperatures in the hot summer months.

Pie Insurance commissioned Yougov PLC to conduct the survey, which was performed online from Feb. 19-27.