Work-Related Amputations in Michigan, 2015

Details

• Personal Author:
  Largo TW ; Rosenman, Kenneth D.
• Description:
  The Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Michigan State University in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services maintains a multi-source system for collecting data on work-related amputations in Michigan. This report characterizes these injuries for 2015. The salient findings are as follows: The system identified a total of 462 Michigan resident work-related amputations. This corresponds to a rate of 10.3 per 100,000 workers. In comparison, the official U.S. Department of Labor estimate (240) was 48% lower. From 2006 to 2015, the number of work-related amputations in Michigan decreased 37.6% and the rate decreased 34.4%. In 2006, there were 740 cases with a corresponding rate of 15.7 per 100,000. The number and rate of work-related amputations decreased from 2006 to 2009. From 2009 to 2012, the number and rate were relatively level. From 2012 to 2013, the number increased 15.3% and the rate increased 12.9%. And from 2013 to 2015, the number decreased 18.4% and the rate decreased 21.4%. Hospital/emergency department medical records identified 411 cases. Workers' Compensation lost work time claims data identified 132 cases, 82 of which were linked to medical records. There was one case for which work-relatedness could not be determined based on the medical record but it was filed in the Workers' Compensation database as a non-amputation injury. Including this case, there were 51 cases that would have been missed had Workers' Compensation claims data not been used to supplement medical records. The amputation rate for males was almost seven times the rate for females. Among males, rates were highest for those aged 16-24 years. Forty-four percent of the amputations occurred among those working in the manufacturing industry. The specific manufacturing group with the highest rate was Primary Metal Manufacturing. Power saws were the leading cause of amputations, accounting for 12.5% of cases for which injury cause was specified. Ninety-six percent of amputations involved fingers. About one in eight (12.9%) finger amputation injuries involved multiple fingers. Workers' Compensation was the expected source of payment of hospitalization or emergency department care for 80.7% of the cases for which payment source was identified. Payer source could not be determined for 9.2% of medical records reviewed. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) inspected 7 worksites identified through medical records and assessed an average of three violations and $2,500 in penalties per worksite inspected. All of Michigan's hospitals are required to report work-related amputation cases and were the primary source of data for most (89.0%) of the identified cases for 2015. Data provided by the Michigan Workers' Compensation Agency identified an additional 11.0% of cases that were not identified by hospital-based surveillance alone. The Workers' Compensation data were limited to individuals who requested wage replacement for being off work for more than seven consecutive days or received a set amount based on the percentage of finger(s) amputated and did not include individuals who had claims for medical care cost reimbursement alone. Therefore, Michigan's surveillance system missed those cases in which injured workers were treated in non-hospital/emergency department settings or at out-of-state hospitals and did not file a Worker Compensation claim for wage replacement. The Michigan work-related amputation surveillance system produces valuable information. It identifies hazardous worksites that otherwise might go undetected and facilitates remediation at these worksites. It provides information that can be used to characterize workers and industries with high amputation rates. Finally, by combining data from two separate systems, medical records and Workers' Compensation claims, it provides the best estimate of the true number of amputations that occur in Michigan. The 462 amputations identified are appreciably larger than the official employer-based estimate of 240. This report will be updated annually and made available on the websites of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Environmental Health, and the Michigan State University Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Hand Injuries Manufacturing Occupational Health Power Tools Surveillance Traumatic Injuries Workers Compensation
• Publisher:
  Michigan State University
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-33
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054248
• Citation:
  East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 2017 May; :1-33
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Work-related amputations in Michigan, 2015
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:002f70fd79f5717a4f76a23d9cf798dca6b9d9048a6897ab1eaa94748bae2e1c8be92f7f77a2349bb11b3bf982d007a3c68313f39cbda5a6698be86b3f0f15d3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216850/cdc_216850_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 321.62 KB ]