MMWR: Worker's Memorial Day- April 28, 2007

Workers' Memorial Day, April 28, was established to recognize workers who died or were injured on the job. On average, nearly 16 workers in the United States die each day from injuries sustained at work, and 134 die from work-related diseases. Daily, an estimated 11,500 private-sector workers have a nonfatal work-related injury or illness, and as a result, more than half require a job transfer, work restrictions, or time away from their jobs. Approximately 9,000 workers are treated in emergency departments each day because of occupational injuries, and approximately 200 of these workers are hospitalized. In 2004, workers' compensation costs for employers totaled $87 billion.

Workers' Memorial Day 2007 also will commemorate the thirty-sixth anniversary of the creation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the U.S. Department of Labor.

For more information, click here or by telephone, 800-356-4674.

MMWR: Nonfatal Occupational Injuries and Illnesses

The April 27, 2007 issue of the CDC's MMWR, reports on a study involving nonfatal occupational injuries. The data for the report was collected through a National Electronic Injury Surveillance System occupational supplement (NEISS-Work), which provides information on persons treated for nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses in U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs).

The report found that in 2004, an estimated 3.4 million nonfatal ED-treated injuries and illnesses occurred among workers of all ages. Workers aged <25 years had the highest injury/illness rates. More than three fourths of all nonfatal workplace injuries/illnesses were attributed to contact with objects or equipment (e.g., being struck by a falling tool or caught in machinery), bodily reaction or exertion (e.g., a sprain or strain), and falls. There were no significant differences in the number and rate of nonfatal injuries/illnesses for 2004 as compared to previous years (2003, 1998, 1996).

The report suggests that to reduce occupational injuries/illnesses, interventions should continue to target workers at highest risk and reduce exposure to those workplace hazards with the greatest potential for causing severe injury or death. More emphasis should be placed on prevention-effectiveness studies and dissemination of successful interventions to reduce work-related injuries and illnesses.

To read the full report, click here

AJPH: Traffic Deaths and Fuel Use-Are Car Characteristics Relevant?

In the Letter section of the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Leonard Evans, author of Traffic Safety, 2006, questions the relevance of vehicle characteristics in Leon Robertson's study, Blood and oil: vehicle characteristics in relation to fatality risk and fuel economy. (AJPH. 2006;96:1906-1909) Evans states that "the relative unimportance of vehicles to safety is revealed by comparing fatality time trends in different countries." Australia, Britain and Canada have reduced fatalities by an average of 49% from 1979-2002 as compared to 16% in the US. Evans claims that it is not vehicle characteristics, but US policy, that is important in reducing traffic deaths and conserving fuel use. If the United States government adopts a stronger policy on driver behavior (seat belt usage, running red lights, speeding, etc.) and on increasing fuel taxes, driver safety and fuel conservation would increase.

Robertson defends his assertion that vehicle characteristics are relevant and that the data for the United States supports his argument. It is because of the disproportionate sales of overweight vehicles in the United States compared with the other countries, that the United States no longer has the lowest death rate in the world. Robertson responds to Evan's claim (stronger US policy is the way to reduce traffic deaths) by saying, "continuous monitoring of tens of millions of drivers on the road at any one time is hardly feasible."

What do you as an injury professional, think about this debate? Do car characteristics (size, type, etc) have a significant impact on traffic deaths and fuel use? Are stronger public policies the way to reduce fatalities and fuel consumption?

Let us know what you think by posting on the blog or e-mailing us at injprevnetwork@sfdph.org

Click here to read the full letters. (Must have a subscription to AJPH)

20th Annual Occupational Safety & Health Institute

The Center of Occupational & Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley presents the 20th Annual Occupational Safety & Health Institute in Oakland, CA from July 30, August 3, 2007. Continuing Education Credit for Physicians, Nurses, Industrial Hygienists, etc. are available. Some of the courses available are:

-Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene
-Updates in Work Disabilities
-Fundamentals of Workplace Safety
-Occupational and Environmental Toxicology

For course descriptions, objectives, hotel information, and registration, visit the website www.coehce.org or call 510-643-7277

Job Opportunity: Health Education Coordinator

San Joaquin County is looking for a Program Coordinator-Public Health Educator.

The Program Coordinator is responsible for oversight and direction of the following Health Education programs: Smoking & Tobacco Outreach/Prevention Project, Dental Disease Prevention Project, Male Involvement Program, Information and Education Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project, and the (California Nutrition Network) Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Program.

Minimum Qualifications
Education: Possession of a master’s degree in public health, from an accredited university or college, with a specialization in a public or community health education program accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.

Experience: Three years of increasingly responsible post-master’s qualifying experience as a professional Public Health Educator, one year of which must have been in a supervisory or management capacity.

License: Possession of a valid California driver’s license

To view the full job description including salary and benefits, click here.

Global Road Safety Week 2007- Road Safety is No Accident

April 23-29, 2007 is the First United Nation's Global Road Safety Week. This international event will focus on increasing awareness about road traffic safety among youth and will highlight risk and prevention information.

Globally, people ages 0-25 years account for more than 40 percent of the nearly 1.2 million road traffic deaths that occur each year. In the United States, motor vehicle crashes account for 30 percent of deaths in people ages 1-25 years, making it the leading cause of death for our young people. In the United States, Global Road Safety Week events will focus on teen drivers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is excited to take part in this effort and will focus on raising awareness about the important role parents play in keeping their teen drivers safe. In particular, parents can use graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems to guide and support their teen's road safety efforts

Research suggests that the most strict and comprehensive GDL programs are associated with 38 percent reductions in death and 40 percent reductions in injury among 16-year-old U.S. drivers. CDC hopes to increase awareness of this impact and help parents of teen drivers to learn more about the GDL requirements in their state.

CDC has developed a Global Road Safety Week 2007 website that provides information on teen driving and GDL systems and links to drivers licensing information for each state.

Visit the website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/grsw/
If you have questions about CDC's Global Road Safety Week activities, please contact Michele Huitric at 770-488-1231 or mhuitric@cdc.gov

Job Opportunity: Executive Director - WalkSanDiego

Job Description:

The Executive Director is responsible for overall leadership and management of WalkSanDiego, including developing and managing the organization’s $300,000 budget and supervising a paid staff of 2-3 and volunteers or interns, as needed. The Executive Director reports to the Board Chair and works closely with the Board of Directors. The position is full-time with a salary range of $60,000-$68,000 annually (DOE), with excellent benefits, including health coverage and professional development opportunities.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have 7-15 years of progressively responsible experience in one or more specialized areas of land use planning, transportation planning, public policy implementation, community development, or public health issues requiring immersion in land use/transportation planning. A master’s degree, law degree, or certification in a field of planning, transportation, or public health is preferred. The ideal candidate would be culturally competent and experienced in working with diverse populations. They will also have strong leadership, organizational and management skills. Experience in fundraising, grant-writing, and non-profit management are also desired. Bilingual Spanish is a plus but is not required.

Submit application electronically to calmtraffic@walksandiego.org, by 4pm Pacific Time, April 30, 2007. No resumes accepted.

For more information and to download an application, visit www.walksandiego.org

Job Opportunity: IP Coordinator

Job Description:

Full Time position is available for an injury prevention coordinator to develop injury prevention programs throughout the hospital and implement injury prevention activities. Analyzes research data to develop target area and evaluate programs. Assists with research tools to maintain quality programs/outcomes. Performs clinical assessment and provides ongoing education to patients, staff and community. Acts as a liason with CHLA and external agencies. Maintains membership in good standing with community partners. Develops, coordinates outreach programs.

Qualifications:

RN, Masters prepared. Minimum 3 years recent pediatric experience, grant writing experience preferred. CA RN license, current CPR.

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a special place where children have been cared for and cured for more than 100 years. Our hospital has become one of the world's top pediatric facilities, acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for our leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. EOE/AA

Please apply on-line@ childrenshospitalla.org for immediate consideration.

MMWR: Nail Gun Injuries Treated in Emergency Departments-United States, 2001-2005

The current issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), published a report on nail gun injuries in the United States from 2001-2005. The report found that during the 5 year period of 2001-2005, an average of 37,000 patients with injuries related to nail-gun use were treated annually in Emergency Departments. 40% of of those injuries occurred among consumers. With the speed, ease of use, and availability of nail guns, annual consumer nail-gun injuries have increased by 200% since 1991. Overall, most injuries were sustained in the upper extremities (75%) and puncture wounds were the most prevalent form of injury. In 2005, 96% of consumers injured by nail guns and 98% of workers injured by nail guns were men. The median age of an injured consumer and of a worker was 35 years and 27 years respectively.

Training regarding safe work practices might be one way of reducing nail-gun injuries. Another method would be to implement the use of sequential-trip triggers ( which decrease the likelihood of an accidental injury), especially with consumers who often have little or no training in tool use. In addition, supplemental information must be given at the point of purchase or rental to inform the consumer of safe nail gun use.

To read the full report, click here.

AJPH: Improving Access to Comprehensive Injury Risk Assessment and Risk Factor Reduction in Older Adult Populations

The April issue of the American Journal of Public Health published a report on the effectiveness of a community-based, comprehensive older adult injury prevention initiative. The older adult injury prevention model addresses gaps in prevention by improving access to risk factor screening, safety devices, education, counseling, and medical care.

The study population included 140 program participants. The mean age was 68.3 +/- 9.7 years. 80.9% were women and 92.1% were Black. Nearly 2/3rds of the participants reported previous injury in their lifetime. The study assessed falls, poisonings, fire/burn, heat/cold exposure, vision, hearing, and home safety.

To read more about the older adult injury prevention initative, click here. (Must be a subscriber of the American Journal of Public Health)

AJPH:Firearm Injuries: Epidemic Then, Endemic Now

The April issue of the American Journal of Public Health provides commentary on firearm injuries in the United States. There has been a transition in US firearm injuries from an epidemic phase (mid-1980s to early 1990s) to an endemic one (since the mid-1990s). Endemic US firearm injuries merit public health attention because they exact an ongoing toll, may give rise to new epidemic outbreaks, and can foster firearm injuries in other parts of the world.

The endemic period is a good time for the development of ongoing prevention approaches, including assessment and monitoring of local risk factors over time and application of proven measures to reduce these risk factors, development of means to address changing circumstances, and ongoing professional and public education designed to weave firearm injury prevention into the fabric of public health work and everyday life.

To read the full article, click here. (Must be a subscriber of the American Journal of Public Health)

MMWR:Fatal Occupational Injuries-United States, 2005

The April 6, 2007 MMWR, reports on fatal occupational injuries in the United States. The data for this report was drawn from the annual Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries(CFOI) which is collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The study found that in 2005, US workers died from an injury while at work at a rate of 4.0 per 100,000 workers. The majority of fatalities resulted from transportation incidents (43%) and falls (18%). Males accounted for 93% of all deaths and had a work-related fatalitity rate approximately 12 times the rate of females (6.9 per 100,000 vs 0.6). Workers aged 35-54 years accounted for 46% of workplace deaths. Rates increased with age, from 2.3 per 100,000 workers for those aged 16-19 years to 11.3 per 100,000 for workers aged 65+.

The study urges for more traffic safety measures such as increased promotion of safety belt usage, prevention of impaired driving, and safer highway work zones.

To read the full report, click here.

Changes to CIPN Resources webpage

We have just condensed our resources page and links page into one page on the CIPN website. We added a few much needed resources and reorganized the page. Check it out for yourself and discover a resource you never knew about. Click here to visit the Resources page.

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think of the resources page. E-mail us at injprevnetwork@sfdph.org or leave us a comment on the blog.

Do Speeding Tickets Reduce the Likelihood of Receiving Subsequent Speeding Tickets?

The March 2007 issue of the journal Traffic Injury Prevention, just released a longitudinal study of speeding violators in Maryland exploring whether or not speeding tickets reduce the likelihood of receiving subsequent speeding tickets. Since speeding tickets are the most commonly used tool to deter speeders, the researchers wanted to know how effective speeding citations were on an individual driver's future behavior over time.

The study included 3,739,951 drivers from Maryland and they were followed for 1 year. In Maryland, there are 3 different types of penalties for speeding: 1) fines and points on insurance card, 2) probation before judgement, PBJ (results in fines but no points if no other violation is committed within a 6 to 12 month period) and 3) no legal consequences.

Overall, those drivers who received speeding citations are at an increased risk of receiving subsequent speeding citations which suggest that speeding citations have a limited effect on deterring drivers from speeding again. In comparing different penalties, PBJ is associated with a reduced rate of recidivism more than stronger penalties.The authors suggest that increasing drivers' perceptions that they are at risk of being caught may improve the effectiveness of speeding law enforcement.

To read the entire study, click here.