Individual characteristics as predictors of accidental injuries in naval personnel

Abstract Personnel characteristics and occupational factors were investigated in order to identify groups with elevated risks of accidental injury in naval environments during first enlistments. The individual characteristics of age at enlistment, educational level, and mental ability all were found to relate significantly to injury when considered singly. When considered jointly, however, only education had a major effect on injury rate. In general, the results indicated that the same individual characteristics that predict poor military performance also predict risk of accidental injury. The occupational analysis identified a number of high-risk occupational specialties (occupations with injury rates above the Navy norm). With the exception of Hospital Corpsmen, all of these occupations were engineering, construction, or aviation specialties in which exposure to hazardous machinery or equipment was evident. Improved safety training and closer supervision should be considered for these personnel, particularly nonhigh school graduates. A modified life table technique was found to be appropriate for this type of longitudinal analysis where large and uneven withdrawals from the cohort occurred. Further analyses of large cohorts from high-risk occupations will be needed to understand the causal factors underlying observed differences in injury rate.