Fatal Injuries Among Young Workers in Kentucky, 2005-2014

Background: Young workers have been more vulnerable to fatal and nonfatal work injuries. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the injuries that led to fatalities in younger workers, the goal of this study was to compare characteristics of young worker fatal injuries in those aged 16-24 to all workers aged 25 and older in Kentucky using a descriptive analysis. Methods: A retrospective analysis of fatalities among workers under the age of 25 compared to workers aged 25 and older was performed over a ten-year period from 2005-2014 using Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program data. Results: From 2005-2014, there were 61 young worker fatalities for the 16-24 age group (Table 1). For the same time period, there were 930 fatalities aged 25 and above. The majority of young workers who died on the job worked in the construction (21%), professional and business services (20%), and the natural resources and mining (18%) industries (Tables 2 and 3). Falls, struck bys, and suicides occurred more frequently, and at equivalent percentages in young worker fatalities (18% each) compared to older worker fatalities (Table 4). Occupational fatality rates declined in both worker groups over the study period and displayed similar trends (Figure 1). The overall occupational fatality rate for young workers was 2.28 per 100,000 workers, and for older workers, the overall occupational fatality rate was 5.71 per 100,000. Conclusions: Despite the decline in young worker fatality rates over the recent years, young worker occupational fatalities are still occurring yearly. Employers should assess hazards daily. Engineering controls and processes, could be implemented to reduce falls and struck by incidents. Employers should ensure that their workers are properly equipped to perform the job task at hand as well as knowledgeable about the potential hazards they could be exposed to

Work-related fatal and nonfatal injuries among U.S. construction workers, 1992-2008

"The construction industry continues to face serious challenges in safety and health despite the declining rates over time and the significant drop in injuries during the current economic downturn. While overall rates of fatal injuries declined in construction, the rate of fatal falls remained high, especially among several occupations including ironworkers, roofers, welders, and construction laborers. Falls, particularly falls to a lower level, were still the leading cause of death, responsible for about one-third of all deaths in construction. Although during the study period the death rates for ironworker and electrical power-line installer declined by 68% and 50%, respectively, they still ranked as the highest risk occupations. Also, death rates were more than double, or at least 50% higher, for construction laborers, truck drivers, welders, and operating engineers compared with construction as a whole. Training and proven interventions should be adopted for these high-risk construction occupations and activities involving the risk of falls. This report documented that the construction workforce is continually aging, which is reflected in the age shift for both fatal and nonfatal injures during the study period. Risk variations were observed among different age groups. Construction workers aged 55 years and older had a higher risk of fatal falls. Given the increasing aging workforce in the construction industry, job redesign for older construction workers should be considered and fall protections for them should be enhanced. Younger workers were more likely to suffer from nonfatal injuries, and the risk of fatal falls was higher for younger workers under 20 years old. Age factor should be definitely taken into account when developing training and intervention programs. Meanwhile, small construction establishments with fewer than 20 employees shared nearly 60% of construction deaths from injuries, which was disproportionally high considering that less than 40% of construction workers were employed in such establishments. Given the large proportion of small establishments in the construction industry and the considerable number of deaths in those establishments, improved safety and health interventions and OSHA enforcement are urgently needed, especially for small construction establishments. This report has several limitations. One of major limitations is the lack of reliable data (i.e., hours worked) to estimate injury rates. Comparing injury and illness rates at the major industry level, rates based on the CPS data were about 10% lower than rates from the SOII, which suggests that self-reported hours worked in the CPS data were overestimated. Since the CPS is conducted via telephone, there is likely some undercounting of migrant and mobile workers and those who rent or lack permanent U.S. addresses, for example, recent immigrants and very low income workers. In addition, some construction workers are misclassified in non-construction industries. For instance, workers from temporary work agencies are classified in "services" under NAICS and SIC. Moreover, most illnesses have a long latency period, such as cancers and asbestos-related diseases. The overwhelming majority of reported illnesses only include cases relatively easy to link with workplace activity such as contact dermatitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Considering the possible underreporting and underestimation, the numbers presented in this report should be interpreted and used with caution. This report highlights the prominent difference between fatal and nonfatal injury trends in construction, especially for small establishments. While risk factors for fatal and nonfatal injuries are not necessarily the same, the difference might be explained by several factors, including possible underreporting in nonfatal injuries and illnesses. The results from the SOII data are inconsistent with findings from other data sources that show a consistent negative correlation between establishment size and injury rate (McVittie et al. 1997; McVittie 2003; CPWR 2008, chart 33b; Dong et al. 2010). Studies have suggested that lower injury rates in small establishments do not have any explanation other than underreporting in the SOII (Oleinick et al. 1995; Morse et al. 2004). The SOII estimates the number and frequency of occupational injuries and illnesses based on logs kept by private sector employers. The accuracy of the logs depends largely on employers' understanding of which cases are work-related and on the accuracy of recording and reporting. Another factor may be that underreporting is motivated in part by employers' desire to avoid increases in workers' compensation premiums linked to reported injuries (see CPWR 2008, page 32; Leigh et al. 2004). Also, the SOII excludes self-employed workers, which is a significant limitation for counting injuries and illnesses in the construction industry since one-fourth of construction workers are self-employed. It is recommended that the BLS collect nonfatal injury and illness data on self-employed construction workers even if it is for selected years; and validate the completeness of reporting, particularly for small construction establishments. Further research should be conducted to examine underreporting issues, explore the relative risks of fatal and nonfatal injuries, and improve the accuracy of injury and illness data." - NIOSHTIC-2NIOSHTIC no. 20046389This research was made possible by a cooperative agreement with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH (grant 1 U60 OH009762-01). The research is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official viewsof NIOSH.d000433.pdfAnnex: Comparison between the 1990 Census Occupational Classification and 2000 Standard Occupational Classification for selected occupations.NIOSH grant 1 U60 OH009762-0

Health and safety of the older worker

This is the author's pre-copyedited accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2012 The Authors.Background - In the UK, increasing numbers of paid employees are over 60 years with further increases expected as the state pension age rises. Some concern surrounds possible increased work-related illness and accidents for people working beyond the age of 60. Aims - To identify the available evidence for health and safety risks of workers over age 60 years with respect to factors associated with injuries and accidents. Methods - Databases searched included PUBMED, OSHUpdate, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSHTIC-2), SafetyLit, the UK The Health and Safety Executive (HSELINE) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety until December 2009. Inclusion criteria were workers aged over 60 years. Findings were grouped into occupational accidents and injuries and individual and workplace factors that may have influenced risk of injury to the over-60s. Results - Very little direct evidence was found concerning safety practices and health risks of workers over age 60. Some safety risks were associated with specific physical declines such as age-related hearing loss. Overall, these workers had fewer accidents and injuries but these were more likely to be serious or fatal when they occurred. There was no strong evidence that work patterns, including shift work or overtime, affected safety. Protective, compensatory strategies or experience may maintain safe working practices. Conclusions - Implications for health and safety risks cannot be assessed without longitudinal research on workforces with substantial numbers of workers over age 60 in order to address the healthy worker effect.Institution of Occupational Health and Safet

Disabling and Fatal Occupational Claim Rates, Risks, and Costs in the Oregon Construction Industry 1990-1997

Occupational research has demonstrated construction to be among the most dangerous of all occupational industries. This study examines 20,680 accepted workers' compensation claims filed by Oregon construction workers over the period of 1990-1997. Injury rate estimates for occupations were calculated using Oregon employment data from the Current Population Survey. The estimated annual rate of lost-time claims was 3.5 per 100 workers annually (95% CI=2.8-4.2) with insulators having the highest rate and supervisors the lowest. The majority of claims, 3,940, were filed by laborers. Over 52% of all claims were filed by workers under 35 years of age, and over half the claimants had less than 1 year of tenure at the time of injury. There were 52 fatalities reported, representing a rate of 8.5 per 100,000 workers (95% CI = 8.1-8.9), of which 32.7% resulted from falls. The most frequently recorded nature of non-fatal injury was listed as a "sprain," and the most common body part injured was the back. The total costs of all claims was $208,537,120, averaging$10,084 per claim, and the average indemnity time per injury was 57.3 days, with female claimants having longer indemnity periods than males. The highest percentage of claims by weekday occurred on Mondays (21.5%), and subsequent analysis showed the highest odds ratio for time of accident, relative to the first hour on the job, occurred on the third hour of work (OR = 2.456, 95% CI = 2.452-2.460.Construction; Workers' Compensation; Occupational Safety; Fatalities; Injuries; Musculoskeletal Disorders; Surveillance

A scientometric analysis and review of fall from height research in construction

Fall from height (FFH) in the construction industry has earned much attention among researchers in recent years. The present review-based study introduced a science mapping approach to evaluate the FFH studies related to the construction industry. This study, through an extensive bibliometric and scientometric assessment, recognized the most active journals, keywords and the nations in the field of FFH studies since 2000. Analysis of the authors’ keywords revealed the emerging research topics in the FFH research community. Recent studies have been discovered to pay more attention to the application of Computer and Information Technology (CIT) tools, particularly building information modelling (BIM) in research related to FFH. Other emerging research areas in the domain of FFH include rule checking, and prevention through design. The findings summarized the mainstream research areas (e.g., safety management program), discussed existing research gaps in FFH domain (e.g., the adaptability of safety management system), and suggests future directions in FFH research. The recommended future directions could contribute to improving safety for the FFH research community by evaluating existing fall prevention programs in different contexts; integrating multiple CIT tools in the entire project lifecycle; designing fall safety courses to workers associated with temporary agents and prototype safety knowledge tool development. The current study was restricted to the FFH literature sample included the journal articles published only in English and in Scopus

Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Commemorates 20 Years of Occupational Safety and Health Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) is the federal government\u27s preeminent source for data on fatal injuries in the workplace. CFOI publishes demographic and employment information about deceased workers (referred to as “decedents” by CFOI) as well as detailed data on the fatal incidents. On October 1, 1993, CFOI published the first comprehensive nationwide data on fatal occupational injuries in the United States. These data, which recorded fatal injuries for calendar year 1992, marked the beginning of a data series that has been used by governmental agencies, safety and health entities, academic institutions, and others to identify trends in workplace deaths and to work towards eliminating future work-related fatal injuries. Over the years, CFOI has collected and published a wealth of information about on-the-job fatal injuries. This issue of Beyond the Numbers highlights some interesting facts and data from the first 20 years of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

THE AGEING WORKFORCE IN IRELAND: WORKING CONDITIONS, HEALTH AND EXTENDING WORKING LIVES. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 92 OCTOBER 2019

Extending working lives is a central element of active ageing policy in Ireland and Europe, and is seen as promoting active lifestyles and sustaining social protection systems in the context of an ageing population. However, efforts to extend working life must consider the reasons why workers leave employment early. Simply raising the minimum retirement age will not build sustainable jobs. A central element of this picture is the health and working conditions faced by older workers. This project explores the retention of older workers in Ireland, drawing on several sources of data to describe their experience in the Irish labour market. While there is no official age threshold to classify a worker as an older worker, the literature on ageing workforce often focuses on workers aged 55 and over.1 In Ireland, according to the 2018 Labour Force Survey, there are currently 396,060 workers in this age category, accounting for 18 per cent of the employed population. We set out to explore the following questions: • How do the working conditions and the health of older workers compare to those of younger workers? • What types of jobs and working conditions are associated with perceived ability to work longer? • Which sectors and occupations are best able to retain older workers? • Among those who exit early (aged 55–59 years), what are their reasons for leaving work? • Are older workers more vulnerable to fatal injury in the workforce? Are they embedded in sectors prone to injury

Fatal Injuries and Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Involving Insects, Arachnids, and Mites

[Excerpt] This issue of Beyond the Numbers article examines fatal and nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses related to insects, arachnids, and mites using data from two Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sources: the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). CFOI data used here are from 2003 to 2010 and aggregated to support extended analysis. SOII data are from 2008 to 2010. BLS began publishing national SOII estimates for state and local government in 2008, so that period was chosen to keep the coverage of CFOI and SOII data in this study as comparable as possible. For this article, the term insects refers to the entire category, for short

Labor Market Estimates of the Senior Discount for the Value of Statistical Life

This article develops the first measures of age-industry job risks to examine the age variations in the value of statistical life. Because of the greater risk vulnerability of older workers, they face flatter wage-risk gradients than younger workers, which we show to be the case empirically. Accounting for this heterogeneity in hedonic market equilibria leads to estimates of the value of statistical life-age relationship that follows an inverted-U shape. The estimates of the value of statistical life range from $6.4 million for younger workers to a peak of$9.0 million for those age 35-44, and then a decline to $3.7 million for those age 55-62. The decline of the estimated VSL with age is consistent with there being some senior discount in the Clear Skies Initiative analysis.value of statistical life, job risks, senior discount, compensating differentials