Twenty years of work-related injury and illness among union carpenters in Washington State

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kucera KL ; Lipscomb HJ ; McCoy AJ ; Schoenfisch AL ; Silverstein BA
• Description:
  Background: 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. Methods: We updated important surveillance data for a unique occupational cohort of union construction workers to provide information on long-term trends in their reported work-related injuries and conditions. Combining administrative data sources, we identified a dynamic cohort of union carpenters who worked in Washington State from 1989 through 2008, their hours worked by month, and their workers' compensation claims. Incidence rates of reported work-related injuries and illnesses were examined. Poisson regression was used to assess risk by categories of age, gender, time in the union, and calendar time contrasting medical only and paid lost time claims. Results: Over the 20-year study period, 24,830 carpenters worked 192.4 million work hours. Work-related injuries resulting in medical care or paid lost time (PLT) from work occurred at a rate of 24.3 per 200,000 hr worked (95% CI: 23.5-25.0). Medical only claims declined 62% and PLT claims declined 77%; more substantive declines were seen for injuries resulting from being struck and falls to a lower level than from overexertion with lifting. Differences in risk based on union tenure and age diminished over time as well. Conclusions: 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. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Construction Materials Epidemiology Occupational Health Risk Assessment Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Occupational Injury Carpenters Cohort Study Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Construction Workers Diseases Health-surveys Information-systems Injuries Injury Rates Longitudinal Analysis Lost-work-days Risk-analysis Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs Worker's Compensation Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Virginia ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  381-388
• Volume:
  56
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042034
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2013 Apr; 56(4):381-388
• Contact Point Address:
  Hester J.Lipscomb, PhD, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, PO Box 3834, Durham, NC 27710
• Email:
  hester.lipscomb@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20150131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5e31f6b6b4084cbac14498bb8214c3926bc56c4f4c5d6889bb9d86a10528d032753483fb104e7a643b19c3c71047133a06d3ecf2f37aaeeaec7629267482d98c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194405/cdc_194405_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 306.61 KB ]