Citation

Pierce B. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2015; 58(5): 519-527.

Affiliation

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Washington, DC.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ajim.22440

PMID

25773875

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Relatively little is known about seasonal patterns in occupational injury risk. Injury risk may vary seasonally due to weather-related factors or changing work exposure. Employer confusion about recordkeeping rules and injury occurrence near year end may also lead to an undercount of year-end injuries.

METHODS: Case records from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries were used to determine seasonality for a variety of injury types.

RESULTS: Reported injury rates were higher in summer and lower at year end. Difficult-to-identify injuries showed greater year-end incidence declines.

CONCLUSIONS: End-of-year injury declines may have reflected reporting errors for some injury types. The summertime increase in injury risk was broad-based and presumably reflected real seasonal factors. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Language: en