Trends in reported occupational injury claims for Grenada and Dominica

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the occupational injury data claims from the Grenada National Insurance Scheme (GNIS) and the Dominica Social Security (DSS). DESIGN AND METHODS: Permission was sought and received from St George's University Institutional Review Board (IRB) as well as the directors of the GNIS and DSS to obtain and then analyze their electronic injury claims data sets over the past 10 years. RESULTS: Over the 2005-2013 period, a total of 1,396 occupational injury claims were received by the DSS whereas a total of 4,507 claims were received by the GNIS. Injury claims from males significantly outnumbered claims from females. For both islands, most claims came from those within the 20-49 years age range. In Dominica, the Wholesale & Retail sector (246 claims) and Construction sector (235 claims) were the economic sectors from which the highest number of injury claims were reported while in Grenada, the Construction Sector (1,076 claims) and the Social & Related Community Services (996 claims) sectors had the highest number of claims. Lower limb injuries, fractures, and lacerations were the top three occupational injuries claimed for in Dominica whereas in Grenada they were trauma, lacerations, and fractures. CONCLUSIONS: While there was a significant difference in the total number of injury claims filed with the numbers recorded by the GNIS significantly higher than those recorded by the DSS, the the types of injury claims were similar. For both islands, the construction sector yielded the highest number of injury claims.