#0039 Work-related injuries and illnesses and their association with hour of work: Analysis of the Oregon construction industry in the US using workers’ compensation accepted disabling claims, 2007-2013
Insights into the Oregon Construction Industry Injury Claims between 2007 and 2013
The construction industry is generally associated with a high occupational risk. In the USA, the fatality rate in the construction industry is three times higher than that of all the other private industries combined. In Oregon alone, the non-fatal injury rate in 2017 was 1.6 times higher than the national rate. Workplace injury data is stored in the Workers’ Compensation (WC) claims database and is used to analyze workplace injury trends and risks in different countries, including the USA.
In this study, we analyzed injury trends in the Oregon construction industry using WC claims data of 12,222 claims from 2007 to 2013. The WC claims data contains information regarding worker demographics, employment type, shift hours and timings, compensated medical cost, work-hours lost, and nature and severity of the injury.
Thirty six of the 12,222 injuries were fatal, accounting for 0.3% of all WC claims. For non-fatal injuries, there was a clear declining trend in injury rate from 2.73 per 100 workers in 2007 to 1.70 per 100 workers in 2013. This translates to a 56% decrease in claims from 2007 to 2013. Male workers had an injury rate five times higher than that of female workers.
Among males, young workers had higher injury rates than older workers. Injury rates decreased with age, with workers older than 65 years reporting an injury rate that was only 21% of that for workers aged 25-34. However, lost work days and compensated medical cost increased with age, indicating that older workers were affected more severely by injuries. The average compensated medical cost was $12,000. With regard to shift timings, the highest frequency of claims was observed at the fourth and eighth hours of work, whereas the most severe injuries were reported in the fifth and thirteenth hours of work.
This study provides actionable data for designing future intervention policies, which should target young male workers as that demographic has the highest frequency of injuries. In addition, interventions should take into account the high frequency and severity of injuries occurring at certain work periods (mid- and end-shift).
Link to the original journal article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/1348-9585.12118
Title of the paper:
Work-related injuries and illnesses and their association with hour of work: Analysis of the Oregon construction industry in the US using workers’ compensation accepted disabling claims, 2007-2013
Authors:
Liu Yang, Adam Branscum, Ellen Smit, David Dreher, Karen Howard, Laurel Kincl
