Washington Occupational Injury and Illness Surveillance Program

Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Wuellner, Sara, E/Bonauto, David, K Expanded Program Project Summary Public health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation and dissemination of data regarding a health event for use in public health action to reduce morbidity and mortality and to improve health. State-based occupational safety and health surveillance programs are in a unique position to utilize state-specific data sources and identify emerging occupational health and safety issues. Washington’s research and surveillance actions are based on data, input from multiple advisory groups, and opportunities to take advantage of emerging interest from the public, press, or others in occupational safety and health. Data based prioritization of research is influenced by the magnitude, severity, and cost of conditions proposed for surveillance, such as work-related musculoskeletal disorders and workplace traumatic injury fatalities. Recognition that many work-related injuries and illnesses are underreported to data systems factors into surveillance prioritization for occupational disease and occupational exposures (e.g. our proposals for respiratory disease and for hazardous occupational exposures to lead). Moreover, the burden of occupational exposures, injuries, and illnesses are not shared equally across the working population with racial and ethnic minorities likely suffering higher occupational injury and illness rates due to occupational segregation into higher risk occupations and industries. Finally, there are often data gaps, like identifying occupational contributions to infectious diseases, which influence our prioritization of surveillance projects. With these factors in mind, in this research proposal, we intend to do the following: 1. From stakeholder input identify and respond to emerging occupational safety and health issues with data. 2. Complete the CSTE occupational health indicators to describe occupational exposures, injuries, and illnesses in Washington. 3. Create an occupational amputations surveillance system. Following creation, use the system to evaluate our state OSHA actions to prevent such injuries and streamline a system of improved reporting of amputations to regulatory authorities. 4. Lead efforts to improve industry and occupation coding on notifiable infectious diseases and identify workplace infectious disease clusters. 5. Continue Washington’s ABLES program and evaluate changes to the workplace lead exposure policies. 6. Implement expanded program surveillance projects, addressing fatal occupational injuries, work-related musculoskeletal disorders, occupational respiratory disease, and identifying racial and ethnic disparities in occupational injury and illness rates. OMB No. 0925-0001/0002 (Rev. 03/2020 Approved Through 02/28/2023) Page Continuation Format Page