Non-fatal occupational injuries and illnesses treated in hospital emergency departments in the United States

Objectives—To estimate the number and rate of occupational injuries and illnesses treated in hospital emergency departments and to characterize the nature, event, and source of injury and illness. Setting—Twenty four hour emergency departments in hospitals in the United States. Methods—Surveillance for occupational injuries and illnesses was conducted in a national probability based sample of hospital emergency departments through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). Worker demographics, nature of injury and disposition, and incident circumstances were abstracted from emergency department medical records, typically within 24–72 hours of treatment. Results—Approximately 3.6 million occupational injuries and illnesses were treated in emergency departments in 1998. Younger workers, particularly males, continue to have the highest rates of work related injuries. Together, lacerations, punctures, amputations, and avulsions represented one fourth of the emergency department treated injuries, mostly to hand and fingers. Sprains and strains, largely to the trunk, also accounted for one fourth of the injuries. The three leading injury events were contact with objects, bodily reactions and exertions, and falls. Conclusions—Despite apparent decreases in rates, youth continue to have a high burden of injury in the workplace. However, three fourths of all emergency department treated injuries occur to workers 20–44 years of age. Emergency department surveillance is particularly amenable to capture of young worker injuries and provides a wealth of injury details to guide prevention efforts—efforts that will likely reduce occupational injuries as these workers age. Emergency department surveillance also provides injury estimates with few demographic or employer constraints, other than the medical venue used.