Work-Related Injuries Among Commercial Janitors in Washington State, Comparisons by Gender

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anderson NJ ; Smith CK
• Description:
  Introduction: We analyzed workers' compensation (WC) data to identify characteristics related to workers' compensation claim outcomes among janitorial service workers in Washington State. Method: We analyzed WC data from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) State Fund (SF) from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2013, for janitorial service workers employed in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Services Sector. We constructed multivariable models to identify factors associated with higher medical costs and increased time lost from work. Results: There were 2,390 janitorial service compensable claims available for analysis. There were significant differences in injury type and other factors by gender, age, and language preference. Linguistic minority status was associated with longer time loss and higher median medical costs. Women were estimated to account for 35% of janitorial service workers but made up 55% of the compensable claims in this study. Conclusions: Janitorial service workers comprise a large vulnerable occupational group in the U.S. workforce. Identifying differences by injury type and potential inequitable outcomes by gender and language is important to ensuring equal treatment in the workers' compensation process. Practical applications: There were significant differences in injury and individual characteristics between men and women in this study. Women had twice the estimated rate of injury to men, and were more likely to require Spanish language materials. Improving communication for training and knowledge about the workers' compensation system appear to be high priorities in this population of injured janitorial service workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Healthcare Disparities Household Work Occupational Health Safety Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  Age Factors Author Keywords: Workers' Compensation Gender Factors Health Disparities Housekeeping Personnel Injuries Language Barrier Lost Work Days Low Wage Occupational Health Disparities Occupational Injuries Service Industries Spanish Language Workers Compensation

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• ISSN:
  0022-4375
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  199-207
• Volume:
  62
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054465
• Citation:
  J Safety Res 2017 Sep; 62:199-207
• Contact Point Address:
  Caroline K. Smith, SHARP Program, PO Box 44330, Olympia, WA 98501-4330, USA
• Email:
  smcb235@LNI.wa.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Safety Research
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8a05b31a2b20e498480ccad4dd5b379121d980ce9919b4abbdaa1b3508900df221d73eb612c8e534f00c896b658b3ca3166202207c1fa77f1feb4025dd00b1b4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217025/cdc_217025_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 299.25 KB ]