Protecting Airport Employees to Keep the Friendly Skies Safe
As spring break winds down, the airline and airport industries are moving on and preparing for what should be a record-breaking summer travel season in 2025. Last summer, international travel finally recovered to pre-pandemic levels, reaching 1.4 billion arrivals.1 This summer is expected to be even busier -- domestic leisure travel is forecast to increase by 3.9 percent and soar above $1 trillion in total spending.2
An army of 1.2 million employees at the nation's commercial airports help to keep travelers safe, get bags to their correct destinations, and ensure planes are ready to fly. Many large airports, including those in Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, employ over 50,000 people.3 But as passengers mill around airport shops and get to their seats in climate-controlled planes, airport employees, especially ground crew employees, can face serious occupational hazards. According to the most up-to-date U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, air transportation employees had 6.7 cases of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time equivalent employees in 2016, more than double the rate of 2.9 cases for all private industry employees.4 However, with the help of an occupational health partner like Concentra®, airports and airlines can work to prevent injuries and ensure employees get the help they need when injuries occur.
Common airport employee injuries
Following a trend in many other industries, overall air transportation injuries have steadily declined. The latest available BLS data, released in 2018, showed that the rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time equivalent employees fell by nearly half from 2003 to 2016, from 11.0 to 6.7.4 As the air travel industry has rebounded from the pandemic, injury rates have experienced an uptick – a 2023 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) analysis found that the rate of injuries per 100 employees that led to at least one day away from work increased 17 percent in 2022 compared with 2019.5 This could be a blip caused by massive turnover in 2021 and 2022 as the industry tanked and then quickly rebounded. The same WSJ analysis found that a major employer of ground crew personnel saw its percentage of tenured employees with more than a year of experience fall from 68 percent before the pandemic to 22 percent in 2022
Cargo and freight agents, who make up a large contingent of ground crew employees, incur the highest total rate of injuries and illnesses involving days away from work per 10,0000 full-time employees, at 746.9/10,000. Drilling down to specific accidents and injuries, the plurality of ground crew accidents are slips, trips, and falls, at 40.3 percent.6 Also common are lifting and carrying accidents (20.4 percent) and machinery accidents (18.7 percent). Ground crew employees are also susceptible to acute musculoskeletal injuries and repetitive motion-based injuries. Luggage handlers, in particular, are often injured as they pick up and move bags. In a study on ground crew employees in Washington, these injuries represented a third of all industry claims in the state’s workers’ compensation system and were a leading cause of long-term disability claims.7
Preventing injuries
Employers can help prevent ground crew injuries before employees ever step foot on the tarmac with human performance evaluations (HPEs). HPEs are physical exams designed to ensure that employees and job candidates can safely perform their jobs. At their core, they help prevent work-related injuries by measuring a person’s ability to perform the daily physical tasks of a particular job efficiently and safely.8 For ground crew employees, an HPE could test their ability to repeatedly lift 50-pound suitcases, climb stairs while carrying unwieldy objects, or bend to access a plane’s cargo hold. HPEs are most used in the pre-employment, post-offer stage, when an employer has made an offer to a prospective employee, but a contract has not been signed and the employee has not yet started work.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), a failed HPE can be used as a valid reason to revoke an employment offer.8 When considering an HPE provider, employers should look for an experienced occupational health organization, like Concentra, with clinicians who perform compliant and thorough HPEs. This will help them get the most out of the evaluation process and avoid liability from discriminatory evaluations.
Employers can also help their ground crew employees avoid injuries through proper ergonomics and pre-work routines. Warm-up and stretching programs designed by an athletic trainer help employees learn the right way to prepare their bodies for physical activity and reduce the risk of injury. These programs have been shown to improve balance and enhance muscle coordination.9 More than simple stretches, an athletic trainer-designed warm-up routine can be designed to ensure employees’ bodies are ready for their specific tasks.10
Beyond warm-up and stretching programs, employers can also invest in exercise guidelines, train-the-trainer programs, and ergonomic intervention. These types of soft tissue injury prevention programs can help physically condition employees and properly educate them on risk factors to prevent cumulative trauma and workplace injuries.11 These programs are most effective when a certified athletic trainer or physical therapist can integrate at the worksite, assessing risks and examining employees' tools and body mechanics as they work. Ongoing safety and ergonomic programs help build a culture of safety and create a work environment where employees are happier, healthier, and more productive.
Treating minor ground crew injuries
An injury on the tarmac doesn’t have to result in a trip to a medical center and a long absence from work. A strong occupational health partner should offer a flexible telemedicine platform that meets employees where they are. Concentra Telemed® is available 24/7 in 43 states; it’s used to treat employees with relatively minor work injuries, including those common in ground crew employees:
- Minor strains
- Minor sprains
- Bruises/contusions
- Tendonitis/repetitive-use injuries
- Minor burns
- Contusions
- Minor cuts and scrapes
- Work-related rashes
- Bloodborne pathogen (BBP) exposures
Concentra Telemed can also be used for injury recheck visits, including some wound and laceration checks, second-degree burns, moderate cervical and low back injuries, significant sprains, strains, and contusions, and routine postoperative checks.12 Using telemedicine for minor injuries minimizes lost duty time, avoids unnecessary hospital or urgent care visits, and increases overall productivity.
Employees can also have minor injuries assessed and treated at one of our over 550 medical centers. Concentra treats one in five workplace injuries across the country and has many medical centers located close to airport facilities.
Take off with Concentra
As the nation’s largest occupational health provider, Concentra is well-versed in the injury risks that airport ground crews face. With more than 620 medical centers across the country and Concentra Telemed available 24/7, we’re here for your employees day and night. To see how we can help you with your injury care needs, contact a Concentra representative today.
Notes
- “Travel 2025: ‘Friend-Finding’ Tours, Private Islands and a Mixed Bag of Prices,” by Christine Chung. The New York Times, January 22, 2025.
- “Travel Forecast,” U.S. Travel Association, January 9, 2025.
- "How many people does it take to run an airport?,” by Harriet Baskas. USA Today, March 30, 2016.
- “Air transportation workers had high rate of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2016,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 30, 2018.
- “More Workers Are Getting Hurt on the Tarmac. ‘It Was Really Frightening.’,” by Benjamin Katz. The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2023.
- Cline, B. et al. Common accidents among airport ground personnel. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. Vol. 66. No 12. 188-90.
- "Innovative approach aims to reduce chronic injuries among airline ground crews,” by Senator Manka Dhingra. Washington State Senate Democrats, October 30, 2024.
- “Pre-employment Physical for Work,” Concentra, n.d.
- “Warm up to a Safer Workplace,” Flagger Force, October 2, 2019.
- “Injury Prevention and Wellness,” Concentra, n.d.
