Work-Related Injuries Within a Large Urban Public School System in the Mid-Western United States

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dahm, Matthew M. ; Davis, Kermit G. ; Reutman S ; Varner K ; Wu B
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: More than 13 million employees are working in the public education sector which includes more than just teachers in the United States. This industry sector also employs custodians, maintenance, and administration. To date, there is very limited information about the type and frequency of injuries for these employees. OBJECTIVE: To identify injury trends related to frequency and severity for different occupational injuries in a large urban school district. METHODS: Between 2014-2015, school district employees reported a total of 598 occupational injuries. Initial analysis of the data provided the frequency of injuries overall and for individual occupational categories. The Severity Index provides a score for job category and injury type based on severity and frequency. RESULTS: Overall, the Slip, Trip and Fall category had the highest frequency, followed by Combative Situations, and Over-exertion. Teacher and Para-professional workers experienced the greatest number of injuries with violence being the most frequent cause. Based on the Severity Index, Over-exertion was identified as the primary exposure concern for Custodians, while Slip, Trip and Fall category had the greatest impact on Building Engineers. CONCLUSIONS: With the diversity of negative outcomes, the administration will need targeted interventions for the various professions represented in the school systems. The injury severity profile indicates non-teachers should be a high priority for interventions with over-exertion and slips, trips and falls leading the risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Education Environmental Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Violence Workplace
• Keywords:
  Assaults Author Keywords: Teachers Custodians Employees Exposure Levels Force Injuries Lifting Overexertion Risk Factors Slips Slips, Trips, And Falls STF Trips And Falls Work Environment Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  1051-9815
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  373-382
• Volume:
  62
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055214
• Citation:
  Work 2019 Mar; 62(3):373-382
• Contact Point Address:
  Kermit Davis, Ph.D., CPE, University of Cincinnati, 160 Panzeca Way, 423 Kettering Lab., Cincinnati, OH 45267-0056, USA
• Email:
  Kermit.davis@uc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Work
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a631e172a66d60f4071b21ef2df39337e8adf02c221ba4298c225dd94cd3968f04001ed99ea4ed52c16b45dc639a4ccf2cd235b0934f1614927d746fe32b1979
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217568/cdc_217568_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 539.65 KB ]