Fatal Occupational Injury Rates Research Articles

Understanding non-industrialized workers' approaches to safety: How do commercial fishermen “stay safe”?

Background Commercial fishing is carried out worldwide, often in non-industrialized forms, and is associated with high rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injury. Problem Fishermen who work independently in non-industrialized settings do not have access to union or industry sponsored safety services and must make their own decisions about safety practices. Learning the meaning of safety for them and the safety measures they employ is important before developing interventions. Methods Two fieldworkers conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews with 31 commercial fishermen in North Carolina. Interviews and fieldnotes were analyzed using QSR N5. Results Fishermen primarily related staying safe to work practices and attitudes. They identified specific safety measures, appropriate gear and boat maintenance, weather decisions, and working cooperatively when ocean fishing. Discussion The ethnographic research process can produce information about a group's norms of preventive behavior and safety concerns. Knowledge of workers' concepts and practices will inform researchers' inquiries.

Tendencias temporales de las lesiones mortales (traumáticas) por accidente de trabajo en España (1992-2002)

Objective To describe time trends in fatal traumatic occupational injuries by economic activity, type of contract, age, and gender between 1992 and 2002 in Spain. Methods The number of fatal traumatic occupational injuries occurring during the study period in salaried workers was 8,510. The annual percentage of change in fatal occupational injury rates was calculated by economic activity, type of employment, age group, and gender assuming a Poisson distribution. The incidence in 2002 was standardized by economic activity to adjust for the potential effect of changes in the labor market from 1992. Economic activities were regrouped according to their percentages of change in employees during the study period. Results The incidence of fatal traumatic injuries decreased by an annual percentage of –4.3% (95% CI, –5.3 to –3.4%) from a rate of 9.8 per 100,000 in 1992 to 6.1 in 2002, representing an overall reduction of 38% (relative risk = 0.62), particularly in expanding employment industries (–4.4%), women (–7.6%) and permanent employment (–4.3%). In 2002 the incidence was 8.5 after adjusting by economic activity in 1992 (adjusted relative risk = 0.87). Conclusions The decreasing trend observed in fatal occupational injuries is similar to that observed in other developed countries. At least two thirds of this decrease can be explained by changes in productive structures. The results indicate the areas in which preventive activities should be concentrated.

Description of fatal occupational injury rates in five selected European Union countries: Austria, Finland, France, Spain and Sweden

Background The aim of the paper was to describe occupational injury rates in five selected European Union countries, in order to detect some patterns in rate trends. Methods Fatal injury crude rates per country and year for the period were calculated using the number of fatal injuries, and the total of employment from the International Labour Organization database. Log-linear models were adjusted for each country, and annual change percentages were estimated. Results Rates have decreased in all selected countries. The magnitude of annual crude rate change percentages vary from −3.7 in Spain (1988–2001) to −6.7 in Sweden (1993–2001). Conclusion The observed fall of fatal occupational injury rates in all selected EU countries, jointly with other developed countries strengthen the hypothesis that trends could be real.

Effects of data limitations when modeling fatal occupational injury rates.

Occupational fatal injury rate studies are often based upon uncertain and variable data. The numerator in rate calculations is often obtained from surveillance systems that can understate the true number of deaths. Worker-years, the denominator in many occupational rate calculations, are frequently estimated from sources that exhibit different amounts of variability. Effects of these data limitations on analyses of trends in occupational fatal injuries were studied using computer simulation. Fatality counts were generated assuming an undercount. Employment estimates were produced using two different strategies, reflecting either frequent but variable measurements or infrequent, precise estimates with interpolated estimates for intervening years. Poisson regression models were fit to the generated data. A range of empirically motivated fatality rate and employment parameters were studied. Undercounting fatalities resulted in biased estimation of the intercept in the Poisson regression model. Relative bias in the trend estimate was near zero for most situations, but increased when a change in fatality undercounting over time was present. Biases for both the intercept and trend were larger when small employment populations were present. Denominator options resulted in similar rate and trend estimates, except where the interpolated method did not capture true trends in employment. Data quality issues such as consistency of conditions throughout the study period and the size of population being studied affect the size of the bias in parameter estimation.

Deindustrialisation and the long term decline in fatal occupational injuries

Aims: To examine the extent to which deindustrialisation accounts for long term trends in occupational injury risk in the United States. Methods: Rates of fatal unintentional occupational injury were computed...

Fatal Occupational Injury Rates in Southern and Non-Southern States, by Race and Hispanic Ethnicity

Fatal Occupational Injury Rates in Southern and Non-Southern States, by Race and Hispanic Ethnicity

Diversity of trends in occupational injury mortality in the United States, 1980–96

Objectives: Although the United States has generally enjoyed declining rates of fatal occupational injury, the rate of decline has not been uniform. To examine the heterogeneity of trends, changes in...

Fatal occupational injuries among electric power company workers.

Surveillance data suggest high rates of electrocutions and fatal falls among workers in electric utility companies, who may be exposed to electric current, heights, flammable agents, and frequent motor vehicle travel. To characterize the occurrence of fatal injuries among electric utility workers, we studied workers in five electric power companies in the United States. A cohort of 127,129 men hired between 1950 and 1986 was followed through 1988. Injuries at work were identified through manual review of death certificates. The occurrence of occupational injuries was analyzed with directly adjusted rates and Poisson regression. The overall rate of fatal occupational injuries was 13.20 per 100,000 person-years (n = 192), with 76% due to electric current, homicide, and falls from heights. Deaths were concentrated in a few groups with elevated injury rates, notably linemen (rate ratio (RR) 3.33), electricians (RR 2.79), and painters (RR 3.27). Occupations requiring daily work on elevations or frequent, direct contact with energized electrical equipment experienced markedly higher rates of fatal injury from falls and electrocutions with rate ratios of 21.8 (95% confidence interval (CI) 11.4-41.5) and 16.7 (95% CI 6.6-42.6), respectively, independent of worker age and seniority. Although fatal injury rates in this industry have declined in recent decades, significant numbers of deaths still occur. Based on the premise that all injuries are preventable, a need for continued vigilance and efforts at prevention is indicated.

Trends in fatal occupational injuries and industrial restructuring in North Carolina in the 1980s.

This study examined the relationship between changes in employment in North Carolina in the 1980s and fatal occupational injury rates. Unintentional fatal occupational injuries (n = 1989) in North Carolina between 1978 and 1991 were identified via the medical examiner's system. Overall fatal injury rates declined during the 1980s, but rates increased 9.6% per year among manufacturing industries that declined in employment size; rates fell among service sector and manufacturing industries that grew. Increasing occupational fatal injury rates accompanied the decline in workforce in North Carolina's traditional, labor-intensive manufacturing industries during the 1980s, while service sector and expanding manufacturing industries have experienced declining fatal injury rates.

Fatal occupational injury rates: Quebec, 1981 through 1988.

The purpose of the study was to estimate the death rates from occupational injuries in the province of Quebec for the period 1981 through 1988. Worker's compensation files were used to ascertain numbers of deaths, which were used as the numerators in figuring the rates (it was estimated that these files reported 83% of the true number of deaths among men). Annual average estimates of the labor force were used as denominators. From 1981 through 1988, compensation was awarded for 1227 fatal work injuries. Among men (96% of the victims), rates declined from 1981 to 1988 (from 12.7 to 8.1 per 100,000); women's rates were stable (< or = 1.0 per 100,000). Compared with men, women had excess mortality from violent acts. Motor vehicle crashes accounted for 36% of all fatal injuries in 1984 and 1985 and declined thereafter. Fatal injury rates in forestry and mining rose to a 1987 maximum of 67.6 per 100,000. The construction sector had the largest number of deaths, despite a decline in rates from 1981 to 1988 (from 27.8 to 15.9 per 100,000). Except for construction and agriculture, reported fatal occupational injury rates in Quebec were similar to those in the United States. Motor vehicle crashes, falls, violent acts, and farming-related injuries were the most frequent causes of death.