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Nature, incidence, and cause of work-related amputations in Minnesota
1Minnesota Department of Health, Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology, 717 Delaware Street S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, USA.
Background:
The Minnesota Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) has collected data on the nature, incidence, and cause of work-related amputation injuries that have taken place since 1992.
Methods:
SENSOR defined an amputation as any finger amputation or the loss of any other body part; 832 workers were identified as having amputation injuries between 1994 and 1995 and 72% of these workers completed telephone interviews.
Results:
The amputation injury rate for Minnesota workers was 39 per 100,000 workers, with agriculture and manufacturing having the highest rates. Sixty-six percent of the injuries involved one finger; 14% involved two or more fingers. Persons working with machinery reported 73% of the injuries.
Conclusions:
A closer examination of the incidence and causes for amputation injuries shows that these were not random events. Reliance on human reactions to prevent injury is inadequate; therefore, additional research needs to be conducted.