Comparison of fatal and severe nonfatal traumatic work-related injuries inWashington State

Objective To compare fatal and hospitalized nonfatal work-related traumatic injuries by occupation and cause. Methods Fatal and hospitalized nonfatal injuries occurring from 1991-1995 w ere identified from Washington State workers' compensation claims data. Non fatal injuries were classified as severe if they harl at least one of the f ollowing criteria: a brain or spinal cord injury, an Injury Severity Score of greater than or equal to 16 or were hospitalized for more than 7 days. T he frequency and rate of fatal and severe nonfatal injuries were then descr ibed by industrial risk class and cause. Results The study identified 335 fatal injuries and 4,405 hospitalized nonf atal injuries, of which 1,105 were classified as severe. Tree topping and p runing, carnival work, roofing, and metal siding and gutters risk classes h ad several severe nonfatal injuries, but few, if any, fatalities. Causes of fatal and severe nonfatal injuries were notably different for the roofing, restaurant, and orchard workers risk classes. Conclusions: The inclusion of severe hospitalized injuries in occupational injury surveillance systems will provide a broader view of high-risk occupa tions and profile of injury causation with which to direct occupational inj ury prevention efforts. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36:317-325, 1999. (C) 1999 Wiley-L iss, Inc.