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Almost 1/2 of Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Injuries Result in Work Loss

28 August 1998

Almost Half of Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Injuries Result in Work Loss

    BALTIMORE, Aug. 28 -- Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School
of Public Health found that during one three year period, a major motor
vehicle manufacturer's workers suffered 35,483 OSHA-recordable injuries, of
which, 49 percent resulted in work loss.  The study was published in the
September issue of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
    Researchers found that a medical and safety occupational injury
surveillance system that includes injury data, as well as detailed
descriptions of the injury-producing event, can provide detailed knowledge of
the circumstances and epidemiology of injuries.  In turn, this knowledge can
serve as the basis for the development of a sound public health approach to
injury prevention in the workplace.  Professor Sue Baker, MPH, Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health, said, "Our study illustrates how data systems can
make it possible to shed light on the circumstances under which certain types
of injuries occur and provide a sound basis for preventive interventions."
    Each year, one United Auto Worker member in three is injured or made ill
on the job, and one in ten is disabled.  In higher-risk groups, one worker in
500 could expect to be killed on the job during a working lifetime.
    The researchers analyzed data routinely reported to Occupational Medical
and Safety Surveillance by a large auto manufacturing company for all acute
traumatic injuries in its U.S. locations in a three-year period.  Data was
collected from the manufacturer's assembly, stamping, power train, parts
plants and administrative centers around the country. This information
included detailed information about the employees, the work environment, the
injury-producing event, clinical details of the injury, and work loss caused
by missed days and restricted duty.
    Using this data, researchers identified injury types, high risk workers,
causes of injury, and factors associated with work loss. Sprains and strains
were the leading injury type, accounting for 39 percent of all injuries and 65
percent of the total number of lost or restricted duty days.  The most common
site of injury was the finger, involved in 20 percent of all injuries,
including 46 percent of all lacerations and 48 percent of fractures.
      Experience played a factor in injuries.  When injured, 35 percent of all
injured workers had at least 20 years of experience working the same skill
group and at the same plant where they were injured.  Experienced workers were
disproportionately cited for failure to use personal protective equipment at
the time of injury -- with 45 percent having more than 20 years of experience.
More than one-fourth of the injured workers had been employed for less than
one year in their current job classification at the time of injury, and half
of these were injured in their first month in that job classification.
    According to senior author Margaret Warner, PhD, the proportion of
injuries resulting in lost days or restricted duty varied by type of plant.
At parts depots, where fewer tasks were available to restricted duty, 7
percent of injuries resulted in assignment for restricted duty and 57 percent
in days away from work, compared with 26 percent and 22 percent respectively
for all types of plants combined.
    Researchers found that key word searches of free-text descriptions of the
injuries supplemented data analyses and provided insight into the specific
circumstances of injury, revealing pronounced differences among plants.  At
the assembly plant with the highest rate of fractures, 22 percent occurred
when something fell on the employee.  In the plant with the next highest rate
of fractures, something falling was responsible for only 12 percent of the
fractures.
    This work was supported by the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center and
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.