Work-Related Amputations in Michigan, 2013

Details

• Personal Author:
  Largo TW ; Rosenman, Kenneth D. ; 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 2013. The salient findings are as follows: The system identified a total of 566 Michigan resident work-related amputations. This corresponds to a rate of 13.1 per 100,000 workers. In comparison, the official U.S. Department of Labor estimate (220) was 61% lower. The number of work-related amputations in Michigan has decreased 24% since 2006, while the rate has decreased 17%. In 2006, there were 740 cases with a corresponding rate of 15.7 per 100,000. The decrease in amputations occurred during the years 2006-2009 and has been level since 2009 with a 15.3% increase in the number and 12.9% increase in the rate of work-related amputations from 2012 to 2013. Hospital/emergency department medical records identified 497 cases. Workers' Compensation lost work time claims data identified 189 cases, 121 of which were linked to medical records. There were 69 cases that would have been missed had Workers' Compensation claims data not been used to supplement medical records. The amputation rate for males was more than six times the rate for females. Among males, rates were highest for those aged 16-19 years. Forty-two percent of the amputations occurred among those working in the manufacturing industry. The specific manufacturing groups with the highest rates were Paper Manufacturing and Wood Product Manufacturing. Power saws were the leading cause of amputations, accounting for 21% of cases for which injury cause was specified. Ninety-six percent of amputations involved fingers. One in eight (12.8%) finger amputation injuries involved multiple fingers. Upper extremity amputations occurred more often on the left side than the right side (56% v. 44%, respectively). Workers' Compensation was the expected source of payment of hospitalization or emergency department care for 74% of the cases for which payment source was identified. Payer source could not be determined for 11% of medical records reviewed. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) inspected 20 worksites identified through medical records and assessed an average of one violation and $1,550 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 (88%) of the identified cases for 2013. Data provided by the Michigan Workers' Compensation Agency identified an additional 12% 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, the 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 566 amputations identified are appreciably larger than the official employer-based estimate of 220. 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 ; 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:
  1-33
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054250
• Citation:
  East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, 2015 Sep; :1-33
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Work-related amputations in Michigan, 2013
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f03ff5a4e01ef7f024a6488305ebea4032ba7fdbba45707ef6e1c47370c4d7db9e4df79998b9c2e062cd252d4bcbb7f57d093585a2562b7d446c51b0acdb54fa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216852/cdc_216852_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 746.97 KB ]