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Just in the wrong place...?: geographic tools for occupational injury/illness surveillance
Roni A Neff1, Frank C Curriero, Thomas A Burke
1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA. rneff@jhsph.edu
Background:
Geographic analysis is now integral to public health surveillance, but has been underused for occupational injury/illness.
Methods:
Mapping and spatial statistics are used to examine national county-level mean establishment Lost Workday Injury/Illness (LWDII) rates in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Data Initiative (ODI), 1997-2001. The following questions are explored: Does occupational injury/illness vary geographically at the county level?; Does variation remain after accounting for industry hazard?; Where are rates higher or lower than expected?
Results:
The methods provide evidence of geographic variation in nonfatal occupational injury/illness rates, including after adjusting for industry hazard.
Conclusions:
Geographic analyses can improve intervention targeting, suggest risk factors for investigation, and make the case for targeting resources to prevention in hard-hit areas, as well as improving ongoing surveillance.
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