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Comparison of fatal and severe nonfatal traumatic work‐related injuries in Washington state
Author(s) -
Alexander Bruce H.,
Franklin Gary M.,
FultonKehoe Deborah
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0274(199908)36:2<317::aid-ajim11>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - medicine , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , poison control , suicide prevention , emergency medicine , physical therapy , medical emergency , pathology
Objective To compare fatal and hospitalized nonfatal work‐related traumatic injuries by occupation and cause. Methods Fatal and hospitalized nonfatal injuries occurring from 1991–1995 were identified from Washington State workers' compensation claims data. Nonfatal injuries were classified as severe if they had at least one of the following criteria: a brain or spinal cord injury, an Injury Severity Score of ≥16, or were hospitalized for more than 7 days. The frequency and rate of fatal and severe nonfatal injuries were then described by industrial risk class and cause. Results The study identified 335 fatal injuries and 4,405 hospitalized nonfatal injuries, of which 1,105 were classified as severe. Tree topping and pruning, carnival work, roofing, and metal siding and gutters risk classes had several severe nonfatal injuries, but few, if any, fatalities. Causes of fatal and severe nonfatal injuries were notably different for the roofing, restaurant, and orchard workers risk classes. Conclusions The inclusion of severe hospitalized injuries in occupational injury surveillance systems will provide a broader view of high‐risk occupations and profile of injury causation with which to direct occupational injury prevention efforts. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36:317–325, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc