Electric shocks at work in Europe: development of a job exposure matrix

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bowman, Joseph D. ; Huss A ; Kheifets L ; Kromhout H ; Vermeulen R
• Description:
  Objectives: Electric shocks have been suggested as a potential risk factor for neurological disease, in particular for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. While actual exposure to shocks is difficult to measure, occurrence and variation of electric injuries could serve as an exposure proxy. We assessed risk of electric injury, using occupational accident registries across Europe to develop an electric shock job-exposure-matrix ( JEM). Materials and methods: Injury data were obtained from five European countries, and the number of workers per occupation and country from EUROSTAT was compiled at a 3-digit International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988 level. We pooled accident rates across countries with a random effects model and categorised jobs into low, medium and high risk based on the 75th and 90th percentile. We next compared our JEM to a JEM that classified extremely low frequency magnetic field exposure of jobs into low, medium and high. Results: Of 116 job codes, occupations with high potential for electric injury exposure were electrical and electronic equipment mechanics and fitters, building frame workers and finishers, machinery mechanics and fitters, metal moulders and welders, assemblers, mining and construction labourers, metal-products machine operators, ships' decks crews and power production and related plant operators. Agreement between the electrical injury and magnetic field JEM was 67.2%. Conclusions: Our JEM classifies occupational titles according to risk of electric injury as a proxy for occurrence of electric shocks. In addition to assessing risk potentially arising from electric shocks, this JEM might contribute to disentangling risks from electric injury from those of extremely low frequency magnetic field exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Electrical Equipment And Supplies Electric Injuries Electricity Magnetic Fields Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-rates Electrical-hazards Electrical-shock Electrical-workers Electronic-equipment Employee-exposure Information-retrieval-systems Injuries Job-analysis Machinists Magnetic-fields Mechanics Models Neurological-diseases Neuromotor-system-disorders Neuromuscular-system-disorders Occupational-hazards Occupations Risk-analysis Risk-factors

  More +
• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  261-267
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042321
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2013 Apr; 70(4):261-267
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr. Anke Huss, Division Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Jenalaan 18d, Utrecht 3584 CK, The Netherlands
• Email:
  a.huss@uu.nl
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing ; Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a69842019ab2e0b4aedea3dd8c7942c9e5026af6131c6819592c22f7df318fa61190555fcc367efa75749fa627c47e2a903f5d6150990354b81d2f69127c21d3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194581/cdc_194581_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 135.39 KB ]