Work-related injuries among union drywall carpenters in Washington State, 1989-2008.

BACKGROUND: Drywall installers are at high-risk of work-related injury. Comprehensive descriptive epidemiology of injuries among drywall installers, particularly over time, is lacking. METHODS: We identified worker-hours and reported and accepted workers' compensation (WC) claims for a 20-year (1989-2008) cohort of 24,830 Washington State union carpenters. Stratified by predominant type of work (drywall installation, other carpentry), work-related injury rates were examined over calendar time and by worker characteristics. Expert interviews provided contextual details. RESULTS: Drywall installers' injury rates, higher than those of other carpenters, declined substantially over this period by 73.6%. Common injury mechanisms were struck by/against, overexertion and falls. Drywall material was considered a contributing factor in 19.7% of injuries. One-third of these drywall material-related injuries resulted in paid lost time, compared to 19.4% of injuries from other sources. Rates of injury were particularly high among workers with 2 to <4 years in the union. Notable declines over time in rates of overexertion injury in which drywall material was a contributing factor were still observed after controlling for secular temporal trends. Experts highlighted changes over the past 20 years that improved both work safety and, in some cases, production. CONCLUSIONS: Declines in drywall installers' injury rates over time likely reflect, in part, enhanced workplace safety, including efforts to reduce overexertion hazards associated with handling drywall. Continued injury prevention efforts are needed, particularly for less tenured workers. Given the potential for under-reporting to WC, additional sources of health outcomes data may provide a more complete picture of workers' health.

Predictors of delayed return to work after back injury: A case-control analysis of union carpenters in Washington State.

METHODS: Union administrative records identified 20,642 union carpenters who worked in Washington State from 1989 to 2003. The Department of Labor and Industries provided records of workers' compensation claims and associated medical care. Work-related back claims (n = 4,241) were identified by ANSI codes (back, trunk, or neck/back) or ICD-9 codes relevant to medical care consistent with a back injury. Cases (n = 738) were defined as back injury claims with >90 days of paid lost time; controls (n = 699) resulted in return to work within 30 days. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI) of delayed return to work (DRTW). RESULTS: Thirty percent of case claims and 8% of control claims were identified by an ICD-9 code. DRTW after back injury was associated with being female (2.7, 95% CI: 1.3-5.5), age 30-44 (1.2, 95% CI: 0.9-1.7) and age over 45 (1.6, 95% CI: 1.1-2.3), four or more years union experience (1.4, 95% CI: 1.1-1.8), previous paid time loss back claim (1.8, 95% CI: 1.3-2.5), and >or=30-day delay to medical care (3.6, 95% CI: 2.1, 6.1). Evidence of more acute trauma was also associated with DRTW. CONCLUSIONS: Use of ICD-9 codes identified claims with multiple injuries that would otherwise not be captured by ANSI codes alone. Though carpenters of younger age and inexperience were at increased risk for a paid lost time back injury claim, older carpenters and more experienced workers, once injured, were more likely to have DRTW as were those who experienced acute events.

Falls in residential carpentry and drywall installation: findings from active injury surveillance with union carpenters.

Active injury surveillance was conducted with a large, unionized workforce of residential and drywall carpenters over a 3-year period. Injured carpenters were interviewed by trained carpenter investigators and sites were visited where falls occurred. Qualitative information was collected on exposures, risk perception, training, and mentoring. Falls accounted for 20% of injuries. Same-level falls were often related to weather, carrying objects-sometimes with an obstructed view-housekeeping, terrain of the lot, and speed of work. Falls from height occurred from a variety of work surfaces and involved ladders, scaffolding, roofs, work on other unsecured surfaces, unprotected openings, speed, and weather conditions. Recognized fall protection strategies, such as guardrails, toe boards, tying off to appropriate anchors, and guarding openings, would have prevented many of these falls; these practices were not the norm on many sites.