2010 Annual Summary of Occupational Disease Reports to the Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs

Details

• Personal Author:
  Reilly MJ ; Rosenman, Kenneth D. ; Yoder M ; Reilly MJ ; Rosenman, Kenneth D. ; Yoder M
• Description:
  There were 7,952 occupational disease (OD) reports submitted to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (MDLARA) in calendar year 2010 as required under the Michigan Occupational Disease Reporting Law. This is an increase of 1,115 from 2009 and represents a reversal of the decrease in reports seen every year since 2003. Only occupational diseases, not injuries are included in this report. Requirements to report injuries are in the Public Health Code and are administered by the Michigan Department of Community Health. Occupational disease reports were submitted by company medical departments or clinics under contract to companies to provide occupational health services to their employees, as well as health care practitioners not providing services to companies. The percentage of reports received that were submitted from company medical departments or clinics under contract has decreased from 84-91% in the early 1990s to approximately 53-70% in the last eight years. The most frequent reports were repetitive trauma (26%), toxic effects of substances (22%), and respiratory diseases (16%). The reports submitted in 2010 are much lower than the number of reports received from 1994-2001. Since 1999, there has been a downward trend of reporting; 21,538 reports were received in 1999 versus 7,952 reports received in 2010. Some of this decline is probably secondary to the development of fewer occupational illnesses particularly in recent years relating to the closure of manufacturing facilities in Michigan from the economic recession. Some component of the reduction may also be from poorer compliance with the reporting law. To address reporting compliance, MIOSHA enforcement of the Occupational Disease Reporting Law began in April 2009, with approximately 6-10 occupational health clinic audits being conducted across the state each year to ensure continued compliance with the reporting law. Company-associated health care practitioners report different types of illnesses than non-company associated health care practitioners. For example, there were 1,707 (49%) reports from non-company providers for toxic effects of substances (poisonings) while only 43 (1%) such reports were received from employer-associated providers (Table 4). In contrast, company-related providers reported 2,019 (46%) cases of repetitive trauma compared to 8 (<1%) of non-company provider reported cases. The average age of individuals reported was 46 years, ranging from 14 to 95. Sixty-seven percent of individuals reported were between the ages of 25 and 54, and 68% were for male workers. There were differences in the types of reports received through the OD reporting system compared to illnesses identified through either the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Annual Survey of a sample of employers or the Michigan Workers' Compensation Agency (Table 8). The OD reporting system had much higher percentages of illnesses from poisonings and dust diseases of the lung than the other two reporting systems. Reliance on multiple reporting systems presents a more complete picture of the spectrum of work-related illnesses in our state. Beginning in 1997, Michigan laboratories were required to report blood lead levels; beginning in 2005, the labs were also required to report blood and urine levels of arsenic, cadmium and mercury, as well as plasma and red cell cholinesterase levels. In 2002, Michigan's two Poison Control Centers began to submit work-related reports; there is now only one center based in Detroit that covers the whole state. In 2010, there were 822 reports received from this Center. Given the complementary nature of all the existing programs, we are able to combine data across systems to better characterize the extent and distribution of individuals who become sick from exposures at work. This is an essential first step in reducing the burden of these preventable illnesses in our state. A previous publication of ours highlighted the potential incompleteness of the official national statistics on occupational injuries and illnesses. The official statistics are based solely on reporting from employers. Our study indicated that the true occurrence of occupational injuries and illnesses may be undercounted by as much as two-thirds.1 More recent work on amputations in the state found that in 2007 the BLS only identified 22%, in 2008 only 59% and in 2009 only 35% of the work-related amputations identified through our multi-source surveillance system. Similarly for work-related burns, the BLS only identified 31% of the total work-related burns that were identified through our multisource surveillance system in 2009 (see Amputation and Burns Annual Reports at www.oem.msu.edu). For 2010, the most recent year available, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) survey reported 8,600 occupational illnesses and 118,100 occupational injuries in Michigan. If this represents only one-third of the true number of occurrences, then one would estimate approximately 380,000 occupational injuries and illnesses in Michigan in 2010. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Demographic Characteristics Environmental Medicine Medical Records Monitoring Systems Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Programs Surveillance Programs Workplace Monitoring
• Publisher:
  Michigan State University
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Annual Report ; Annual Report
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-37
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054247
• Citation:
  East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 2012 Aug; :1-37
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  2010 annual summary of occupational disease reports to the Michigan Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cc4c15c8236013526bc61b51b429aadac21d372729e0ad81ea4f034d101c69ed88bf00a802ee9e2caf5557647cfd491ee051e4622616073332992508dd23a599
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216849/cdc_216849_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 669.98 KB ]