The association between weekly work hours, crew familiarity, and occupational injury and illness in emergency medical services workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fabio, Anthony ; Freiberg MS ; Moore CG ; Patterson PD ; Songer TJ ; Weaver MD
• Description:
  Objective: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workers are shift workers in a high-risk, uncontrolled occupational environment. EMS-worker fatigue has been associated with self-reported injury, but the influence of extended weekly work hours is unknown. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was designed using historical shift schedules and occupational injury and illness reports. Using multilevel models, we examined the association between weekly work hours, crew familiarity, and injury or illness. Results: In total, 966,082 shifts and 950 reports across 14 EMS agencies were obtained over a 1-3 year period. Weekly work hours were not associated with occupational injury or illness. Schedule characteristics that yield decreased exposure to occupational hazards, such as part-time work and night work, conferred reduced risk of injury or illness. Conclusions: Extended weekly work hours were not associated with occupational injury or illness. Future work should focus on transient exposures and agency-level characteristics that may contribute to adverse work events. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Fatigue Health Personnel Men Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Shift Work Schedule Women

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Emergency Medical Services Emergency-responders Environmental-hazards Humans Injuries Medical-personnel Models Occupational-hazards Occupational Injury Risk-factors Shift-work Shift-workers Shift Work Statistical-analysis Workers

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania ; Tennessee
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046662
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2015 Dec; 58(12):1270-1277
• Contact Point Address:
  Matthew D. Weaver, PhD, EMT-P, Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Landmark Center Suite 301 West, 401 Park Drive Boston, MA 02215
• Email:
  mdweaver@partners.org
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20120701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20150630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61114c06eedafa94b944f07e3695458815bbc2d1d37fafa33d77dea882f3da3a0c2a2dd05a94cfed5afc6e6470df276f98a62e64db7b5140ed82ea3bd9d6066d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/202020/cdc_202020_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 117.37 KB ]