Occupational Injury and Illness Surveillance: Conceptual Filters Explain Underreporting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Azaroff LS ; Levenstein C ; Wegman, David H.
• Description:
  Occupational health surveillance data are key to effective intervention. However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey significantly underestimates the incidence of work-related injuries and illnesses. Researchers supplement these statistics with data from other systems not designed for surveillance. The authors apply the filter model of Webb et al. to underreporting by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers' compensation wage-replacement documents, physician reporting systems, and medical records of treatment charged to workers' compensation. Mechanisms are described for the loss of cases at successive steps of documentation. Empirical findings indicate that workers repeatedly risk adverse consequences for attempting to complete these steps, while systems for ensuring their completion are weak or absent. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hazardous Substances Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Health-care Health-hazards Injuries Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Safety-measures Work-environment
• ISSN:
  0090-0036
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  92
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024328
• Citation:
  Am J Public Health 2002 Sep; 92(9):1421-1429
• Contact Point Address:
  Lenore S. Azaroff, ScD, University of Massachusetts Lowell Work Environment Department, One University Ave, Lowell, MA 01854
• Email:
  lenore_azaroff@uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  University of Lowell Research Foundation, Lowell, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Public Health
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f66eb9a107f5d37befde67bf64855fa5a9aff40c21035887227f5cc0db06b9f3643f19cb20645b8ad16de0652381bd9ef591fcaeb09d5f728f9dfb8a1f6b6c71
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196184/cdc_196184_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 176.50 KB ]