Insurer Says Serious Injuries Down, but Costs Still High for Employers

There's good news on the workplace injury front, according to Liberty Mutual Insurance, which just published its annual Workplace Safety Index. Serious injuries decreased more than 6 percent in 2003 and the rate of growth in the cost of such injuries also dropped.But the overall cost of workplace injuries grew almost $1 billion nationwide between 1998 and 2003, adjusted for inflation. In 2003 alone, employers spent more than $50 billion on wages and medical care for injured workers, Lib