A Smarter National Surveillance System for Occupational Safety and Health in the 21st Century

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Academy of Sciences
• Description:
  The workplace is where 156 million working adults in the United States spend many waking hours, and it has a profound influence on health and well-being. Work-related injuries and illnesses can impact quality of life. Although some occupations and work-related activities are more hazardous than others and face higher rates of injuries, illness, disease, and fatalities, workers in all occupations face some form of work-related safety and health concerns. Not only are such hazards a threat to worker well-being and hence to the nation's health, but one study estimated the annual cost of occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the United States at $250 billion (in 2007 dollars), which is more than the $219 billion for cancer and more than half of the $431.8 billion for cardiovascular disease. Reducing that health burden is the goal of occupational safety and health (OSH) surveillance. OSH surveillance provides the data and analyses needed to understand the relationships between work and injuries and illnesses in order to improve worker safety and health and prevent work-related injuries and illnesses. Information about the circumstances in which workers are injured or made ill on the job and how these patterns change over time is essential to develop effective prevention programs and target future research. The nation needs a robust OSH surveillance system to provide this critical information for informing policy development, guiding educational and regulatory activities, developing safer technologies, and enabling research and prevention strategies that serves and protects all workers. The 1987 National Research Council report Counting Injuries and Illnesses in the Workplace: Proposals for a Better System provided initial guidance to organize and enhance OSH surveillance in the United States. Responses to that report resulted in a number of improvements, primarily ones that addressed injury surveillance. While the 1987 report was instrumental to many noted improvements in OSH surveillance, major changes have occurred in the past 30 years that necessitate this new study - a comprehensive reassessment of the state of OSH surveillance. The three key federal agencies involved with occupational safety and health - the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - called on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to undertake a study to develop a vision and steps toward a national surveillance system for occupational safety and health for the 21st century. The Committee on Developing a "Smarter" National Surveillance System for Occupational Safety and Health in the 21st Century undertook its task by first considering the goals of an ideal national surveillance system and establishing a set of guiding principles. Then it examined the current roles and activities of different agencies and stakeholders, and studied OSH surveillance in other countries for possible lessons learned. Next, the committee explored promising new developments, such as the household survey, electronic health records, autocoding of occupational information, electronic reporting, use of workers' compensation data, and improvements in occupational hazard and exposure surveillance. Then the committee considered ways to enable an effective national OSH surveillance system, including a clear rationale and prioritization for surveillance, coordination of surveillance strategies, effective use of information technology, and utilizing practitioners with appropriate skills. Finally, to address the demands and concerns of the current and future workforce, and ultimately to protect workers, the committee envisioned how to achieve a more cohesive and "smarter" system in the United States by providing both nearand long-term recommendations for moving the current system into the 21st century. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Database Occupational Health Public Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  BLS Bureau Of Labor Statistics Databases Data Processing Disease Prevention Electronic Health Records Health Surveys Information Processing Information Systems Injury Prevention Medical Records Monitoring Systems Occupational Safety And Health Occupational Safety And Health Administration Occupations OSHA Public Health Recordkeeping Statistical Analysis Surveillance Surveillance Programs Worker Health Workers Compensation

  More +
• ISBN:
  9780309462990
• Publisher:
  The National Academies Press
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Book
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-192
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050821
• Citation:
  Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2017 Jan; :1-192
• Contact Point Address:
  The National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  National Academy of Sciences
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  A smarter national surveillance system for occupational safety and health in the 21st century
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a3734bd04a9e98f7bacfa6bc736db13280ce99d0e88ed933be7b14d235b8774d22b502e700db945e2a6af6d2f20bc18c812483ded3ad0ddcd540e0959f9aa760
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211031/cdc_211031_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.99 MB ]