Injury surveillance. A review of data sources used by the Division of Safety Research

Abstract

Injury surveillance by the Division of Safety Research in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has the following two major purposes: the detection of significant changes in the status of worker safety to help define areas for research and the assessment of importance of various safety problems for priority setting in the Division. Surveillance of occupational injuries in recent years has realized a quantum improvement due to the availability of several extensive work-injury case data bases. The Division of Safety Research utilizes three of these to provide essentially independent sources of evidence for the identification and definition of problems for safety research. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, based on daily reports from a representative sample of hospital emergency rooms across the nation, provides case data such as age and sex of the injured worker, injury diagnosis, and product involvement. The Supplementary Data System annually provides worker's compensation case files which include the occupation and industry of the injured worker from selected states. A third level of detail is provided by the work injury report surveys of injured workers, conducted annually, and focused on specific accident types or injury groups. Findings include high-risk occupations, age groups, tools, and equipment.