Evaluation of the Characteristics of Workers Injured on the Job Requiring Hospitalization, and Employer Compliance with OSHA’s Reporting Requirement for These Work-Related Hospitalizations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Reilly MJ ; Rosenman, Kenneth D. ; Wang L
• Description:
  Background: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) implemented a new standard in 2014 requiring employers to report nearly all work-related inpatient hospitalizations within 24 h of the event. We examined the characteristics of the injured workers who were reported and the compliance of Michigan employers with the regulation. Methods: From 2016 to 2018, we compared reports of acute nonmotor-vehicle work-related injuries and illnesses from two independent datasets, employer reports to OSHA and the Michigan Multi-Source Injury and Illness Surveillance System (MMSIISS) which collects injured worker hospital records from the 134 hospitals in Michigan. We matched records from employer reports to OSHA with the MMSIISS by employee's first and last name, company name, date of injury/illness, and type of injury/illness. Results: We identified 2887 workers hospitalized with severe injuries/illnesses from 2016 to 2018 in Michigan; 1260 workers were reported by employers to OSHA and 2238 workers were reported by hospitals to the MMSIISS. There was an overlap of 611 workers reported in both systems, while 649 workers were only reported by employers to OSHA and 1627 workers were only reported by hospitals to the MMSIISS. Employer compliance with the regulation over the 3 years showed a nonsignificant increase; from 42.0% to 43.6% to 45.0%. Fractures were the most frequent type of injury (1238, 42.9%), then head injuries, including skull fractures (470, 16.3%). The median length of hospital stay was 3 days. Manufacturing (709, 25.5%) and construction (563, 20.3%), accounted for the greatest number of hospitalizations. Employer-reported cases to OSHA significantly undercounted hospitalized workers in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting; construction; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; administrative and support and waste management and remediation services; arts, entertainment, and recreation; accommodation and food services; and other services except public administration. Companies with 250 or more employees were significantly more likely to comply and small companies with 10 or fewer employees were significantly less likely to comply with the reporting rule. Enforcement inspections at 465 of the workplaces where a hospitalization had occurred resulted in $1,017,835 in fines and identified 608 violations. Of the 465 inspections, 246 (52.9%) of the employers had not corrected the hazard before the inspection. Conclusions: This study identified that workers sustained severe injuries and illnesses on the job and that over half of the companies where a worker suffered an injury/illness leading to hospitalization were not in compliance with OSHA's reporting regulation. Furthermore, at the time of an inspection 1-5 months later, 50% of the companies had not corrected the hazard causing the hospitalization. Improvement in the reporting of work-related injuries/illnesses that result in hospitalization will identify more ongoing hazards in the workplace and improve where to focus preventive actions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Employer Reporting Compliance Costs Hospitalization Injuries Medical Treatment Occupational Injury And Illness Reporting Occupations Recordkeeping Regulations Severe Injury And Illness Standards Surveillance Programs

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Michigan ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  109-121
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066449
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2023 Feb; 66(2):109-121
• Contact Point Address:
  Mary Jo Reilly, MS, Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 909 Wilson Rd, Room 117 West Fee Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
• Email:
  reilly@msu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:795c1a8746181ea24d4e0d182e8c2c46517b7b6a80b55e32e6fd94e022f2b31a6493a4f1ce8265d057db704d6a7ea6c1b514d0b871cf5910d63f912dba029c9e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212872/cdc_212872_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 859.23 KB ]