Cost, Severity and Prevalence of Agricultural-Related Injury Workers’ Compensation Claims in Farming Operations from 14 U.S. States

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baidwan NK ; Boonstra D ; Casteel C ; Cavanaugh JE ; Gerr F ; Ramirez MR
• Description:
  (1) Background: There is no national surveillance of agricultural injuries, despite agricultural occupations being among the most hazardous in the U.S. This effort uses workers' compensation (WC) data to estimate the burden of agricultural injuries and the likelihood of experiencing an injury by body part involved, cause, and nature in farming operations. (2) Methods: WC data from 2010 to 2016 provided by a large insurance company covering small to medium-sized farm operations from 14 U.S. states was used. We investigated the associations between injury characteristics and WC costs and the risk of having a more severe versus a less severe claim. The proportion of costs attributable to specific claim types was calculated. (3) Results: Of a total 1000 claims, 67% were medical only. The total cost incurred by WC payable claims (n = 866) was USD 21.5 million. Of this, 96% was attributable to more severe claims resulting in disabilities or death. The most common body part injured was the distal upper extremity. Falling or flying objects and collisions were the most expensive and common causes of injury. (4) Conclusions: Characterizing the cost and severity of agricultural injury by key injury characteristics may be useful when prioritizing prevention efforts in partnership with insurance companies and agricultural operations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Agriculture Epidemiology Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Industry Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Agriculture Costs Falling Objects Falls Health Care Injuries Medical Records Surveillance Upper Extremities Workers' Compensation Workers Compensation

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• ISSN:
  1660-4601
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Iowa ; Minnesota ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062611
• Citation:
  Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 Apr; 18(8):4309
• Contact Point Address:
  Navneet Kaur Baidwan, UAB/Lakeshore Collaborative, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
• Email:
  baidw002@uab.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa, Iowa City
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3730d2bcb892367798ba0684f3de701ef2fa4bcc2fc191aa038e4bb78a0937c6d10a6ba0cbc4623eca826fdb0e47ff04e521c5ad1b3e93ca5983e886aeef1513
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225819/cdc_225819_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.26 MB ]