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

Abstract #103884

Brian McCall, PhD, Industrial Relations Center, University of Minnesota, 3-251 Carlson School of Management, 321-19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 612-624-9521, bmccall@csom.umn.edu and Irwin Horwitz, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Texas, 1200 Herman Pressler, Suite E303, Houston, TX 77089.

Occupational eye injury has been found to be a widespread and serious public health problem. This presentation will begin with an overview past research of workplace ocular injury that has been found through the examination of workers' compensation and trauma center data. Following the overview, findings will be presented using Kentucky workers' compensation data to examine eye injuries that occurred in the state over the eleven-year period of 1993-2003. Because the Kentucky data contains detailed information on variables which are critical for developing and prioritizing preventitive strategies to reduce work-related eye injury, this study will make a significant contribution to the public health literature. Injury data will be presented which will examine the age, gender, occupation, and costs associated with occupational eye injuries. Additional information will assess injury severity using duration and indemnity information, as well as measures assessing various risk factors associated with the injuries thereby highlighting where interventions are most needed. The U.S. Department of Labor's Current Population Survey will be used to establish denominators by which injury rates by occupation, industry, and employee demographics will be estimated. Additionally, because the data covers eleven years, it will allow for a longitudinal examination of eye injury trends in work settings. The findings of this study will be compared and contrasted to previous studies of occupational eye injury and the implications will be discussed. The limitations of this investigation will also be presented, and in doing so, directions for future research will be suggested.

Learning Objectives:

• Provide a synopsis of past research on occupational eye injury.
• Quantify the rates of workplace eye injury experienced by employees.
• Assess the costs and severity associated with occupational eye injuries.
• Identify occupations, industries, and employee demographics which are at the highest risk of ocular injury most in need of interventions.
• Provide areas and methods which would be most useful for future research to address occupationally-related eye injury in the future.

Keywords: Vision Care, Injury Prevention

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.