An epidemiologic study of sudden death at work.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Robinson CC
• Description:
  A descriptive study of sudden death on the job and a case control study focusing on cardiac deaths at work were reported. According to county coroner records, 245 sudden deaths due to injuries and natural causes occurred from 1979 through 1982 while the decedent was at work in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The age adjusted death rate for natural causes for white males at work was 11.2 per 100,000; more than 90 percent of the deaths resulted from heart attacks, almost twice as high as the death rate for fatal injuries. In service occupations, the death rate at work from natural causes was 27 per 100,000, or 2.5 times as high as the rate for the general population of the county. The highest rates for fatal injuries were encountered in the construction industry (24.3 per 100,000), where nonroad vehicles accounted for 19 percent of the deaths, followed by ladders or scaffolds in 18 percent. Sixteen additional deaths or injuries occurred when another person attempted to assist the decedent or as a result of the incident. A case control study revealed that men who died at work from sudden cardiac death were more likely to be engaged in blue collar occupations than men who died off the job; the difference was statistically significant. About 1 percent of natural deaths and 7 percent of injuries were associated with levels of alcohol in the blood higher than 100 milligrams per milliliter. The author concludes that coroner records are a better source than state records for the identification of deaths at work in a well defined geographical region. Recommendations include a flip switch alert system for isolated workers, better training for confined space rescues, and improved maintenance of nonroad vehicles. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Age Factors Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Epidemiology Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Epidemiology; Occupational-health; Mortality-surveys; Mortality-rates; Age-factors; Accident-statistics; Myocardial-disorders; Cardiovascular-system-disorders
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Thesis
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-232
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00170256
• Citation:
  University of Pittsburgh, Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), 1985; :1-232
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  University of Pittsburgh, Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished), 232 pages, 124 references
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/242256/cdc_242256_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]