American journal of industrial medicine
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Comparative Study
Who pays for work-related traumatic injuries? Payer distribution in washington state by ethnicity, injury severity, and year (1998-2008).
Acute work-related trauma is a leading cause of death and disability for U.S. workers but it is difficult to obtain information about injured workers not covered by workers' compensation (WC). This study aimed to: (1) describe trends in expected payer and linkage to WC claims, (2) compare characteristics of injured workers who did and did not have a linked WC claim, and (3) describe variation in expected payer and linkage to WC claims by ethnicity and injury severity. ⋯ This study demonstrated the importance of considering differential access to other insurance coverage and adaptation by health care settings to financial pressures when assessing trends in occupational injury incidence and reporting, especially when using WC as a proxy for work-relatedness. The addition of occupation, industry, and work status to trauma registries and hospital discharge databases would improve surveillance, research, policy and prevention efforts.
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Individuals who work in the construction industry are at high risk of occupational injury. Robust surveillance systems are needed to monitor the experiences of these workers over time. ⋯ Significant declines in rates of reported work-related injuries and illnesses were observed over the 20-year period among these union carpenters. Greater declines were observed among workers with less union tenure and for claims resulting in PLT.
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In the high-risk construction industry little is known about the prevalence or effects of programs offering rewards for workers and/or their supervisors for improved safety records or those that punish workers in some way for injury. ⋯ There are multiple layers of disincentives to the reporting of work-related injuries that hamper understanding of risk and pose threats to workplace safety and productivity. These pressures do not arise in a vacuum and are likely influenced by a host of contextual factors. Efforts that help us understand variation across jobsites and time could be enlightening; such inquiries may require mixed methodologies and should be framed with consideration for the upper tiers of the public health hierarchy of hazard control.
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Occupational injuries, especially back problems related to resident handling, are common in nursing home employees and their prevention may require substantial up-front investment. This study evaluated the economics of a safe resident handling program (SRHP), in a large chain of skilled nursing facilities, from the corporation's perspective. ⋯ Decreased costs of worker injury compensation claims and turnover appear at least partially attributable to the SRHP. Future research should examine center-specific factors that enhance program success, and improve measures of turnover costs and healthcare productivity.
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Comparative Study
Upper body musculoskeletal symptoms of Latino poultry processing workers and a comparison group of Latino manual workers.
Upper body musculoskeletal injuries are often attributed to rapid work pace and repetitive motions. These job features are common in poultry processing, an industry that relies on Latino immigrants. Few studies document the symptom burden of immigrant Latinos employed in poultry processing or other manual jobs. ⋯ Workplace conditions facing poultry processing and indigenous language speaking workers deserve further exploration.