The Workers’ Compensation Division received notification of 18,948 accepted disabling claims in 2009, a decrease of 2,711 claims from 2008. Employment decreased by 110,800 workers. This resulted in a claims rate of 1.2 claims per 100 workers.

In 2009, there were 73 years separating the oldest and youngest claimants. The youngest was a 15-year-old forestry worker. The oldest was an 88-year-old food preparer.

• Occupational diseases comprised 9.8 percent of the accepted disabling claims.
• Workers in their first year with an employer filed 4,651 claims,
  24.6 percent of the total accepted in 2009.
• Of the total 18,948 accepted disabling claims, 83 were for workers younger than 18 and 440 were for workers 65 or older. The average age of claimants in 2009 was 42.
• Claims filed by women totaled 6,959 (36.7 percent).
• The average weekly wage at time of injury for 2009 claimants was $642.09. The average weekly wage for Oregon workers, excluding federal employees, was $800.60.
• Eighty-six percent of the accepted disabling claims came from private industry.
• Claims tend to be centered on areas of the state with dense population. The Portland metropolitan area (Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties) had 41.9 percent of all accepted disabling claims in 2009.

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This document was originally published in August 2010.
[Printed form: 440-2055 (08/10/COM)]