Targeting of workplace inspections for lead

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Environmental Health
• Public Health Surveillance

Background:

• Preventing occupational lead poisoning necessitates identifying workplaces with excessive lead exposure.
• Current surveillance methods may not effectively target all at-risk industries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of different surveillance data sources in identifying worksites with excessive lead exposure.
• To compare data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections with workers' compensation claims and heavy metal registry reports.

Main Methods:

• Comparison of OSHA inspection data with Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) claims (1979-1985).
• Comparison of OSHA inspection data with New York Health Department's Heavy Metal Registry (NYHMR) reports (1981-1985).
• Analysis of industry types and company sizes identified by each surveillance method.

Main Results:

• NYHMR identified 179 companies; only 17% were also identified by OSHA in New York.
• BWC identified 50 companies; only 7.5% were also identified by OSHA in Ohio.
• OSHA inspections focused on large industries with known lead hazards, while BWC and NYHMR identified smaller businesses in sectors like automotive repair and construction.

Conclusions:

• Workers' compensation claims and laboratory reports identify worksites not typically inspected by OSHA.
• These alternative data sources are vital for targeting interventions in industries with smaller establishments and non-traditional lead exposures.
• Integrating data from state health departments and workers' compensation systems can enhance efforts to eliminate occupational lead poisoning.