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Volume 4, Issue 5 (Suppl) Occup Med Health
ISSN:2329-6879 OMHA, an open access journal Environmental Health 2016
October 24-25, 2016
Page 20
Notes:
conferenceseries.com
October 24-25, 2016 | Valencia, Spain
International Conference on
Environmental Health & Safety
WORK RELATED INJURIES IN A LARGE MANUFACTURING COMPANY
Background: Work related injuries in the United States have steadily declined over the past three decades despite an aging
workforce. This is attributable to a number of factors, including safer work programs (such as behavioral safety program,
safety committees, and an emphasis on ergonomics in the workplace) and a decline in the proportion of the workforce in
manufacturing.
Objective: To determine the frequency and the age-adjusted frequency of back, knee and shoulder injuries in a manufacturing
setting over a 12-year period (2003-2015).
Method: 35,662 work related injury claim with greater than three days of missed work were analyzed. Descriptive analysis
methods were used to compare claim frequency by year.
Results: Age-adjusted number of back injuries decreased over a 12-year period (2.44/100 employees in 2003 compared to
0.56 /100 employees in 2015). Knee and shoulder injuries remained relatively constant over 12 year period. Knee injuries were
0.78/100 employees in 2003 compared to 0.42/100 employees in 2015. Shoulder injuries were 0.44/100 employees in 2003 and
0.42/100 employees in 2015.
Conclusion: Age-adjusted number of back injuries decreased over a 12-year period. This parallels the national U.S. trend of
decreased work related injuries, and is likely related to safer work environments. However, knee and shoulder injuries remained
constant over 12-year period while other conditions declined. This could be due to degenerative disease in an aging workforce.
Biography
Kalia completed her MD at University of South Florida and her MPH and MBA at the Johns Hopkins University. She is the Associate Director for the Division of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine. She is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine
(JHDOM) and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Health Services at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHBSPH).
Nimisha Kalia
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA
Nimisha Kalia, Occup Med Health Aff 2016, 4:5 (Suppl)