Workers’ Comp for Machinery & Metal Fabrication

Workers’ Comp Insurance for Machinery & Metal Fabrication Shops

CompShield is an independent workers’ comp agency built around one product, and welding, machine shop, and sheet metal work each carry genuinely different risk profiles under NCCI’s own classification system. We’re not guessing at your code from a generic “metal shop” label, we classify based on what your equipment and process actually expose your crew to.

Metal fabrication workers face a lost-time injury rate of roughly 132 per 10,000 workers, well above the roughly 100-per-10,000 average across private industry, and an amputation rate about four times the manufacturing-wide average. Press brakes alone are linked to an estimated 320 amputations a year, plus hundreds more crush and laceration injuries.

The Real Risk

Press Brakes and Power Presses Are the Real Exposure

OSHA’s machine-guarding standard (1910.212) and its power press-specific standard (1910.217, requiring interlocked guards and two-hand controls) exist because presses, brakes, and shears are documented sources of severe, repeat injury in metal fabrication. Amputation rates in this trade run roughly four times the broader manufacturing average.

Welding and cutting carry their own real hazards, burns, eye injury, fume exposure, while machine shop work adds rotating-equipment entanglement risk. These are distinct exposures, and NCCI reflects that with separate codes rather than one blanket “metal shop” classification.

Metal fabrication workers face roughly 132 lost-time injuries per 10,000, versus about 100 per 10,000 across private industry generally.

Sources: OSHA 1910.217 Power Press Standard

Classification

Welding, Machine Shop, and Sheet Metal Get Separate Codes

NCCI maintains distinct classifications reflecting genuinely different processes: welding and cutting, machine shop operations, stamped or pressed metal goods, and sheet metal products all have their own codes, plus a newer code specifically for shop-only sheet metal fabrication (as opposed to field installation work, which carries different exposure).

If your shop runs multiple processes, say, welding alongside machine shop work, under one undivided payroll, that’s a documented source of audit disputes. We won’t publish a specific rate here, real numbers depend on your state, carrier, and actual equipment mix.

Sources: NCCI class code reference

Pricing

How Much Does Workers’ Comp Cost for a Metal Fabrication Shop?

Payroll ÷ 100 × Class Code Rate × Experience Mod = Premium

Payroll. Your total insurable payroll, split by process where your shop runs more than one distinct operation.
Class code rate. Welding, machine shop, and sheet metal fabrication carry different documented risk and are classified separately, not lumped into one code.
Experience mod. Compares your claims history against similar fabrication shops in your exact classification.

We won’t invent a fake average rate here, real numbers come from your specific equipment, process, and payroll.

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Common Questions

Workers’ Comp for Metal Fabrication Shops, Answered

Workers’ comp is required in most states once you have employees. Fabrication shops also commonly carry general liability, equipment/inland marine coverage, and product liability alongside it.

Requirements vary by state. We’re licensed in 28 states and can confirm the exact requirement for your specific state.

Welding and machine shop work are classified under separate NCCI codes because they carry genuinely different documented risk, burn and fume exposure versus rotating-equipment entanglement, so rates reflect that real difference.

Yes. Press brakes and power presses are documented sources of severe injury industry-wide, and your specific equipment and guarding practices are part of what underwriters evaluate.

Shop-only sheet metal fabrication has its own newer classification, distinct from field installation work, because on-site installation carries different exposure than controlled shop-floor production.

Medical treatment and lost wages for an on-the-job injury regardless of fault, whether it’s a laceration, an amputation, or a burn from welding or cutting equipment.

Each distinct process, welding versus machine shop work, for example, may need its own classification. Combining them under one undivided payroll is a documented source of disputes at audit.

Yes. New shops are typically quoted on estimated payroll for the first policy term, then trued up at audit once real payroll figures are in.

Where We Cover This Trade

Metal Fabrication Coverage, State by State

We’re licensed in 28 states. Here’s where we’re actively writing workers’ comp for metal fabrication and machine shops right now.

Texas
Florida
Pennsylvania
Georgia
Indiana
See All 28 Licensed States →

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