Citation

Holizki T, McDonald R, Foster V, Guzmicky M. Am. J. Ind. Med. 2008; 51(5): 357-363.

Affiliation

WorkSafeBC (the Workers' Compensation Board of BC), Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/ajim.20555

PMID

18302139

Abstract

BACKGROUND: We conducted a study to determine the types and causes of serious injuries to young workers (YW) (ages 14-24) in British Columbia. METHODS: The WorkSafeBC database from 2000 to 2005 was searched for all claims, all non-health-care-only (NHCO) injuries and all serious injury claims involving workers aged 14-24. RESULTS: Of 384,250 NHCO claims, 15.6% were for YW, not significantly different from the British Columbia workforce (P > 0.75). Of the 5217 serious injuries, 9.8% (including 40 fatalities) were to YW-455 males and 56 females, significantly different from the workforce (50% male) ((2) = 259.8; df = 1; P < 0.001). Ten percentage of YW injuries occurred in the first week, 20% in the first month, of employment. Education level of injured YWs was lower than average for the provincial workforce. Only 38% of YWs injured in vehicle crashes (themost common cause of fatalities) were wearing seatbelts. CONCLUSIONS: Safety training should be provided before YWs start work and in media other than school. Seatbelt use should be addressed.

Language: en