Injured at work: what workers' compensation data reveal about work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs)

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adams D ; Silverstein B
• Description:
  Objective, Key Findings The Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program examined workers' compensation data to demonstrate the impact of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in Washington State workplaces. The data show that WMSDs continue to represent a significant proportion of workers' compensation costs. 1. WMSDs account for 27 percent of all accepted State Fund workers' compensation claims. 2. These claims are 40 percent of all compensable claims. 3. WMSDs account for 44 percent of the cost of State Fund workers' compensation claims (compensable and medical-only). The fact that WMSDs represent a significant proportion of workers' compensation costs suggests that they should be a high priority for injury prevention. WMSD Risks: 1. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are a number of physical conditions affecting muscles, tendons, nerves and joints that are not caused by acute trauma. Examples include back strain, tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. They occur when the physical demands of work damage these areas of the body. 2. WMSDs are caused or aggravated by exposures to frequent or heavy manual handling, awkward postures and forceful or repetitive exertions. 3. Risk increases as the frequency, duration or intensity of these exposures increase, or multiple risk factors occur at the same time. Fewer injuries and less-severe injuries would occur by reducing the number and frequency of exposures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Cumulative Trauma Disorders Hazardous Substances Immune System Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Vibration Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Age-groups Arm-injuries Back-injuries Body-regions Carpal-tunnel-syndrome Cumulative-trauma Disabled-workers Extremities Force Hand-injuries Health-care Health-hazards Immune-reaction Industrial-environment Information-processing Information-retrieval-systems Injuries Injury-prevention Lost-work-days Manual-lifting Manual-materials-handling Muscle-physiology Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Neck-injuries Neuromotor-function Neuromuscular-function Occupations Pain-tolerance Posture Repetitive-work Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs Vibration-effects Vibration-exposure Work-environment Worker-health

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• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-16
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044319
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 40-10b-2007, 2007 Apr; :1-16
• Contact Point Address:
  Barbara Silverstein, PhD, MPH, Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, PO Box 44330, Olympia, WA 98504-4330
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Injured at work: what workers' compensation data reveal about work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs)
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7a4a0eda3c4752457330a7424cfa944f7eea087c9d25a23f158adc4a02a84c109571fb3da695b0ebb20f0227b031175deb98651fcde0a5dfb66623f4926fc237
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200050/cdc_200050_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 505.15 KB ]