Occupational injuries in Korea: a comparison of blue-collar and white-collar workers' rates and underreporting

This study was performed to determine the differences in occupational injuries and illnesses between white-collar and blue-collar workers and to estimate the magnitude of the underreporting of these injuries and illnesses in Korea. Two datasets were used. One was a cohort established in the Gyeongin area with workers who underwent mandated health examinations, and the other was the National Health Insurance (NHI) data of claims submitted by workers employed between 1999 and 2001. Workers were classified into two groups--white-collar and blue-collar workers--according to their job types and the type of health examination they received. Injury rates were calculated for white-collar and blue-collar workers. The differences in the incidences of musculoskeletal diseases or injury and poisoning between the two groups were regarded as unreported occupational injuries or illnesses. Thereafter, work-related injury rates were estimated. With regard to medical treatment for musculoskeletal diseases or injuries and poisonings covered by the NHI, blue-collar workers had 3.47 more cases per 100 person-years than white-collar workers. This translates into a rate of between 12.57 and 18.1 injured workers per million working hours. The injury rate was 2.74 to 3.29 injured workers and the incidence rate was 3.62 to 5.44 injuries and illnesses per hundred workers. The estimated occupational injury and illness rates in this study were likely to be two to three times higher than those officially reported. However, the limitations of the study should also be considered.