Background To lay groundwork for identifying patterns of injury etiology, we sought to describe injury experience associated with types of work performed at construction sites by examining workers' compensation (WC) claims for the 32,081 construction workers who built Denver International Airport (DIA). Methods Injury rates and WC payment rates were calculated for 25 types of work based on claims and payroll data reported to DIA's owner-controlled insurance program according to National Council on Compensation Insurance job classiยฎcations. By linking DIA claims with corresponding lost-work-time (LWT) claims ยฎled with Colorado's Workers' Compensation Division, we were also able to obtain and examine both total and median lost days for each type of work. Results Injury experience varied widely among the types of construction work. Workers building elevators and conduits and installing glass, metal, or steel were at particularly high risk of both LWT and non-LWT injury. Median days lost by injured workers was highest (202 days) for driving/trucking. Median days lost for most types of work was much greater than previously reported for construction: 40 days or more for 18 of the 25 types of work analyzed. WC payment rates reยฏect both number and severity of injuries and were generally not signiยฎcantly different from expected losses. They were, however, signiยฎcantly higher than expected for driving/trucking, metal/steel installation, inspection/analysis, and elevator construction. Conclusion Analysis of injury data by type of work allows targeting of safety resources to high risk construction work and would be useful in prospective surveillance at large construction sites with centrally administered workers' compensation plans. Am.