267052 Occupational Injury Surveillance for the Electric Utility Industry Guiding Ergonomics Research and Interventions

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 11:30 AM - 11:50 AM

Ximena Vergara, PhD, MPH , Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA
Gabor Mezei, MD, PhD , Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA
Tiffani Fordyce, MPH , Exponent, Menlo Park, CA
Sharan Campleman, PhD, MPH, DABT, CTR , Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA
Background: The EPRI Occupational Injury Surveillance Database provides information on the occurrence of workplace injury among workers in the electric power industry. The objectives are to: 1) monitor trends of injury and illness over time within job characteristics and demographic factors; 2) identify occupations that have higher rates, health costs and lost time due to injuries; 3) establish benchmark standards; 4) evaluate the effectiveness of prevention programs; and, 5) provide a reliable basis for establishing specific research priorities. Methods: Personnel, injury, and occupational health data for the period 1995 – 2010 were collected and standardized in terms of demographics, injury (type, source, body part), and occupation (title, work location). Results: The database currently includes 1,703,455 employee-years of follow-up and 58,381 reported individual injuries among the eighteen participating companies. The most common injuries were sprains and strains (38.8%), leading to over 1,300 lost full-time equivalence (FTEs). The highest frequency of lost FTEs occurred due to injuries of the back/trunk (21.6%), neck and shoulder (12.9%) and upper extremities (7.0%). Injury assignment by source was greatest for overexertion (27.4%) and falls (15.6%). Relative to the overall injury rate of 3.4 per 100 employee years (EY), rates appeared highest among workers with a primary assignment as ‘transmission and distribution' (10.0 per 100 EY) or occupation categorized as welders, meter readers, and line workers (14.8, 13.0, and 11.3 per 100 EY, respectively). Conclusion(s): Guided by results of descriptive analyses, targeted research on specific ergonomic recommendations was implemented for worker subgroups/tasks requiring excessive force and/or repetition.

Learning Areas:
Occupational health and safety

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the primary sources of injury for electric utility workers. 2. Describe the major difficulties in developing a occupational surveillance system across the electric power industry.

Keywords: Surveillance, Occupational Injury and Death

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have conducted research on the occupational epidemiology and exposure related to electric utility sectors for 2 years, and continue to serve as co-investigator on this project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.