Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #103875

Irwin Horwitz, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Texas, 1200 Herman Pressler, Suite E303, Houston, TX 77089, 713-500-9194, ihorwitz@sph.uth.tmc.edu and Brian McCall, PhD, Industrial Relations Center, University of Minnesota, 3-251 Carlson School of Management, 321-19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Work-related burns have been identified by public health investigators to be a significant threat to the safety of many workers whose jobs engender exposure to heat and chemical sources. Unfortunately, while most burn researchers have concluded that these injuries are preventable, they still remain a frequent and serious source of worker injury. While there have been numerous studies that have attempted to examine occupational burns, the majority have used data from burn clinics and emergency rooms where only the most severe cases were recorded, and occupational risk factors not elucidated in detail. This study uses workers' compensation data from Virginia from 1999-2003 to assess factors associated with incidences of workplace burn injuries. In doing so, employee demographics such as age and gender, as well as events causing burn injuries, associated costs, and the duration of indemnity periods will be reported. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Current Population Survey will be used to estimate baselines for deriving burn injury rates and conducting risk analyses. The analysis of burn injury risk will be applied to industries, specific employee occupations and demographic characteristics such as gender and age to identify employee populations most vulnerable to occupational burns and allow for the prioritization of where preventative measures are needed the most. The results from this study will be contrasted with findings from previous research, and provide greater insight for the development of cost-effective and efficacious workplace interventions. The limitations of the study will then be discussed and directions for future research identified.

Learning Objectives:

• Provide a background of past research on occupational burns.
• Detail the rates of workplace burns experienced by employees in Virginia.
• Understand the costs and severity associated with work-related burns.
• Identify occupations, industries, and employee demographics which are at the highest risk of occupational burns most in need of preventative interventions.
• Suggest areas and methods which would be most useful for future research on workplace burn prevention in the future.

Keywords: Burns, Occupational Safety

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation