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

Abstract #111302

Frank W. Neuhauser, MPP, Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 2538 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-5100, 510-643-0667, frankn@berkeley.edu

Research on the incidence and cost of occupational injuries has focused almost exclusively on the under counting of these events and related costs. This paper takes the controversial stance that these injuries are substantially overestimated because the baseline for evaluation should be workers' overall risk of injury for any unit of time. Hence, the occupational risk is the difference between this baseline risk and the relative risk in the workplace. Using a specially prepared extract of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and Department of Transportation motor vehicle information the author estimates incremental occupation related risk of motor vehicle fatality. Using California data on inpatient hospital admissions and related ICD-9E Codes, the author also estimates the incremental risk of occupational related non-vehicle accidents resulting in overnight hospital stays. The estimates are made after controlling for exposure characteristics of the working population. In both cases, the paper argues that over the past 35 years, introduction of OSHA regulation and changing industrial mix have made workplaces substantially safer, so much so that working actually reduces the overall incidence and cost of common injuries and fatalities. The paper also discusses the extension of this premise to occupational diseases.

Learning Objectives:

participants will be better able to
• define appropriate measures of occupational injury risk
• evaluate relative occupational risk of incidence and cost
• prioritize social investment between occupational and non-occupational injury prevention

Keywords: Occupational Injury and Death, OSHA

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.