Occupational traumatic injuries among workers in health care facilities - United States, 2012-2014

Abstract

In 2013, one in five reported nonfatal occupational injuries occurred among workers in the health care and social assistance industry, the highest number of such injuries reported for all private industries. In 2011, U.S. health care personnel experienced seven times the national rate of musculoskeletal disorders compared with all other private sector workers. To reduce the number of preventable injuries among health care personnel, CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), with collaborating partners, created the Occupational Health Safety Network (OHSN) to collect detailed injury data to help target prevention efforts. OHSN, a free, voluntary surveillance system for health care facilities, enables prompt and secure tracking of occupational injuries by type, occupation, location, and risk factors. This report describes OHSN and reports on current findings for three types of injuries. A total of 112 U.S. facilities reported 10,680 OSHA-recordable* patient handling and movement (4,674 injuries); slips, trips, and falls (3,972 injuries); and workplace violence (2,034 injuries) injuries occurring from January 1, 2012-September 30, 2014. Incidence rates for patient handling; slips, trips, and falls; and workplace violence were 11.3, 9.6, and 4.9 incidents per 10,000 worker-months,† respectively. Nurse assistants and nurses had the highest injury rates of all occupations examined. Focused interventions could mitigate some injuries. Data analyzed through OHSN identify where resources, such as lifting equipment and training, can be directed to potentially reduce patient handling injuries. Using OHSN can guide institutional and national interventions to protect health care personnel from common, disabling, preventable injuries.

FIGURE 1

Comparison of OSHA-recordable* injury incidence rates^† per 10,000 worker-months^§ by occupation groups among 112 U.S. health care facilities, January 1, 2012–September 30, 2014 Abbreviations: OSHA = Occupational Safety and Health Administration. *OSHA-recordable injuries are defined as work-related injuries and illnesses that result in at least one of the following: death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, or a diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional. ^† Injury incidence rate = (number of injuries/total facility full-time employees) × 10,000. ^§ Worker-months are the number of full-time equivalent workers at a facility (or group of facilities) multiplied by the number of months worked within the reporting period. For example, a facility with 1,000 full-time equivalent workers has 12,000 worker-months in a 12 month reporting period. Worker-months are specific for each occupation (e.g., only full-time equivalent nurses are used to calculate incidence rates for nurses). ^¶ Nonpatient care staff is included in all health care personnel.

FIGURE 2

Comparison of OSHA-recordable workplace violence injury incidence rates per 10,000 worker-months* by year among 112 U.S. health care facilities, January 1, 2012–September 30, 2014 Abbreviation: OSHA = Occupational Health and Safety Administration. * Worker-months are the number of full-time equivalent workers at a facility (or group of facilities) multiplied by the number of months worked within the reporting period. For example, a facility with 1,000 full-time equivalent workers has 12,000 worker-months in a 12-month reporting period. Worker-months are specific for each occupation (e.g., only full-time equivalent nurses are used to calculate incidence rates for nurses).