Acute Occupational Respiratory Injuries and Fatalities, United States, 2016–2020

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blackley DJ ; Dodd KE ; Hale, Janet M. ; Hall NB ; Myers NT
• Description:
  Rationale: Our study analyzed workplace exposures, incidents, injuries, and fatalities associated with acute respiratory illness in the United States using the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Occupational Safety and Health Information System (OIS) database, with inspection records from both federal and state OSHA. Currently, there is limited knowledge on how workers are exposed to acute respiratory-associated events over time, across industries and occupations. Methods: Cases were identified by searching the narrative for respiratory-associated keywords and developing a selection criterion. They were then manually validated and categorized by source (primary and secondary), similar to Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) developed by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Primary sources were cases with respiratory-related event or exposure that was responsible for the incident (e.g., chemicals and gases; oxygen deficiency; smoke and explosions; infectious agents). Secondary sources were cases when objects or substances contributed to the event or exposure (e.g., struck, caught, or crushed; drowning) followed by respiratory-related condition such as asphyxia or pneumothorax. Injury (fatal and nonfatal) and fatality rates were calculated using total employed worker statistics reported by BLS and for the 20 industries categorized by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS 2017). Results: A total of 37,289 incidents were reported in the OSHA OIS dataset from January 2016 to February 2020. Of these, 1279 (3.4%) met the case definition, accounting for 2495 workers involved in a respiratory-related event or exposure. Most incidents had only one worker involved (77.8%; n=995) and 60% reported at least one fatality (n=762). The injury and fatality rates were highest for the construction industry at 77.3 and 31.8 per 10 million workers, respectively. Incidents may have involved one or more exposure or event. Among primary source incidents, carbon monoxide exposure was the leading cause (30.1%, n=119; Table 1), followed by chlorine exposure (13.6%, n=54; Table 1). The major causes for secondary source incidents were workers being struck, caught, or crushed in collapsing structures and equipment (56.4%, n=463; Table 1), which was predominantly associated with positional asphyxiation. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Asphyxiation Fatalities Injuries Occupational Exposure Respiratory Health
• ISSN:
  1073-449X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  RHD - Respiratory Health Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  207
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070249
• Citation:
  Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2023 May; 207(Abstract Issue):A4355
• Email:
  nmyers@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
• Supplement:
  Abstract Issue
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:55f41b84b283694465efb78bf8f538999d311a862b42603fd1af3b97bcdc15a7d5547e596a4b848886f7ca076f8b37153340d9fc31e6bc4d662ddddb8c2f04a7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208498/cdc_208498_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 361.12 KB ]