INFORMATION SHEET 4.1-4 Occupational Health and Safety Indicators

 

Learning objectives:

Learning Objectives: After reading this information sheet, the student/ trainee should be able to;

1.   Know what is an occupational health and its indicators

2.   Identify trends and patterns of work-related injury, illness, and death

 Health and Safety Indicators

 


 

  What is an occupational health  and safety indicator?

 

     An occupational health and safety indicator is a specific measure of a work-related disease or injury, or a factor associated with occupational health, such as workplace exposures, hazards, or interventions, in a specified population. Indicators can be generated by states to track trends in the occupational health status of the working population. Examples of occupational health indicators include counting the number of work-related deaths and work-related pesticide poisonings.

 

  

Why use occupational health and safety  indicators?

 

·         Measure baseline health of worker populations

·         Identify trends and patterns of work-related injury, illness, and death

·         Anticipate early problem areas that deserve attention

·         Reduce preventable workplace injuries

·         Increase consistency and availability of occupational disease and injury surveillance data

 

What occupational health indicators are generated?

Most state public health or labor departments calculate the 19 occupational health indicators listed below. Depending on the type of industries and jobs in a state and the availability of data, some states have developed additional indicators to better measure worker health in their state.

 


 

Occupational Illnesses and Injuries Combined

         Indicator 1: Non-fatal injuries and illnesses reported by employers

         Indicator 2: Work-related hospitalizations

 

Acute and Cumulative Occupational Injuries

         Indicator 3: Fatal work-related injuries

         Indicator 4: Amputations reported by employers

         Indicator 5: Amputations identified in state workers’ compensation systems

         Indicator 6: Hospitalizations for work-related burns

         Indicator 7: Musculoskeletal disorders reported by employers

         Indicator 8: Carpal tunnel syndrome cases identified in state workers’ compensation

         systems

 

Occupational Illnesses

         Indicator 9: Pneumoconiosis hospitalizations

         Indicator 10: Pneumoconiosis mortality

         Indicator 11: Acute work-related pesticide poisonings reported to poison control centers

         Indicator 12: Incidence of malignant mesothelioma

 

Occupational Exposures 

         Indicator 13: Elevated blood lead levels among adults

 

Occupational Hazards

         Indicator 14: Workers employed in industries with high risk for occupational morbidity

         Indicator 15: Workers employed in occupations with high risk for occupational morbidity

         Indicator 16: Workers employed in industries and occupations with high risk for  occupational mortality

 

Intervention Resources for Occupational Health

         Indicator 17: Occupational safety and health professionals

         Indicator 18: Occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) enforcement

         activities

 

Socioeconomic Impact of Occupational Illnesses and Injuries

         Indicator 19: Workers’ compensation awards

Common health and safety indicators can be divided into two – frequency rates and incidence rates. So what’s the difference?

A frequency rate is an expression of how many events happened over a given period of time by a standardized number of hours worked. An incidence rate is the number of events that happened over a given period time by a standardized number of employees (usually lower than the standardized number of hours).

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