Occupational Injuries in the Colorado Craft Brewing Industry: An Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Claims

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brents C ; Rosecrance J
• Description:
  Introduction: Over the past five years, the number of craft breweries in Colorado grew over 120%. As of 2019, Colorado had the second greatest number of craft breweries in the US. Increased occupational injuries accompanied this overall industry expansion. Per the Colorado Workers' Compensation Act, businesses with more than one employee are legally required to provide workers' compensation insurance to cover the costs of occupational injuries. Information from workers' compensation data can provide insight into common injuries affecting an industry. The purpose of this study was to characterize injuries affecting Colorado craft brewery workers by analysing the accident narratives of workers' compensation claims data. Methods: A five-year (2013 -2018) history of Colorado craft brewery workers' compensation claims data was analysed. Researchers partnered with Pinnacol Assurance to obtain workers' compensation data. Descriptive analysis of craft brewery injury claims was performed. Accident narratives were coded for specific work activity to further characterize occupational injuries. Results: Of the 571 claims identified during the study period (July 2013 to June 2018), the majority of injuries by nature were contusions (27%), strains (19%) and lacerations (19%). Specific work activities associated with contusions involved product handling and packaging (37%). Work activities largely associated with lacerations were cleaning and maintenance tasks (49%). Handling product, packaging, and production work activities were associated with the majority (63%) of strain injuries. Conclusions: The present study identified contusions, lacerations, and strains as the most common nature of injury affecting Colorado craft brewery workers. Practitioners and researchers can use workers' compensation data to help target and develop interventions to reduce occupational injuries. Work activity details extrapolated from accident narratives assist in targeting effective intervention strategies. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety
• Keywords:
  Brewery Workers Brewing Industry Injuries Occupational Accidents Workers Compensation
• Publisher:
  The University of Utah
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant ; Contract
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8 ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063077
• Citation:
  18th Annual Regional National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Young/New Investigators Symposium, April 17, 2020, virtual event. Salt Lake City, UT: The University of Utah, 2020 Apr; :2
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• Performing Organization:
  University of Colorado, Denver
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20070701
• Source Full Name:
  18th Annual Regional National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Young/New Investigators Symposium, April 17, 2020, virtual event
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0ef3e6cc65916e909f2ea517bc4ae375c762229b9b6681d841b21d62bf742f5a5b71e49362994ba314309f3f6c97a18bd70507c163cd750fd9d68871694fe28e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226204/cdc_226204_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 632.33 KB ]