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Objectives: We estimated the contribution of nonfatal work-related injuries on the injury burden among working-age adults (aged 18-64 years) in the United States. Methods. We used the 1997-1999 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to estimate injury rates and proportions of work-related vs non-work-related injuries. Results. An estimated 19.4 million medically treated injuries occurred annually to working-age adults (11.7 episodes per 100 persons; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.3, 12.1); 29%, or 5.5 million (4.5 per 100 persons; 95% CI = 4.2, 4.7), occurred at work and varied by gender, age, and race/ethnicity. Among employed persons, 38% of injuries occurred at work, and among employed men aged 55-64 years, 49% of injuries occurred at work. Conclusions. Injuries at work comprise a substantial part of the injury burden, accounting for nearly half of all injuries in some age groups. The NHIS provides an important source of population-based data with which to determine the work relatedness of injuries. Study estimates of days away from work after injury were 1.8 times higher than the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) workplace-based estimates and 1.4 times as high as BLS estimates for private industry. The prominence of occupational injuries among injuries to working-age adults reinforces the need to examine workplace conditions in efforts to reduce the societal impact of injuries. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2004.049338)

The organizational responses of employers to work-related injuries is one of several significant influences on return-to-work outcomes. Thus, understanding the factors that lead to better or worse organizational responses to work injuries may ultimately help to improve success in this area. The purpose of this study was to systematically explore factors that might influence the organizational responses of employers to injured workers, based on employee perceptions. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 2,943 subjects with work-related injuries which had occurred less than eight weeks prior to survey completion. Measured variables included pre-injury demographic and job factors, injury circumstances, and a measure of post-injury events that comprised the organizational response. Multivariate linear regression results show that age, gender, job dissatisfaction before injury, prior difficulty performing job tasks, injury severity, back injury and lost time were all associated with negative organizational responses, suggesting potential opportunities for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organizational responses of employers to work-related injuries is one of several significant influences on return-to-work outcomes. Thus, understanding the factors that lead to better or worse organizational responses to work injuries may ultimately help to improve success in this area. The purpose of this study was to systematically explore factors that might influence the organizational responses of employers to injured workers, based on employee perceptions. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 2,943 subjects with work-related injuries which had occurred less than eight weeks prior to survey completion. Measured variables included pre-injury demographic and job factors, injury circumstances, and a measure of post-injury events that comprised the organizational response. Multivariate linear regression results show that age, gender, job dissatisfaction before injury, prior difficulty performing job tasks, injury severity, back injury and lost time were all associated with negative organizational responses, suggesting potential opportunities for intervention.