TRENDS AND DISPARITIES IN FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURY IN NORTH CAROLINA

ABSTRACTUnderstanding of the frequency and distribution of occupational injuries is crucial for injury prevention andevaluation of injury prevention strategies. The past 25 years have seen profound changes in the economic anddemographic factors that affect workplace safety. Nationally, employment has shifted away from manufacturingto services. Despite positive economic indicators, unemployment remains high in many communities, and thereis increasing reliance on undocumented and immigrant workers. Like the US as a whole, North Carolina’sworkforce has changed substantially over the past 25 years. The state has grown from 6.6 million to 9.9 millionresidents, employment has shifted dramatically from agriculture, textile, and furniture production to a morediversified economy and the population of Latino workers has increased nearly four hundred percent. Theparent study of the current proposal provided a detailed description of the epidemiology of fatal occupationalinjuries in North Carolina over the period 1977-1991, utilizing the state’s medical examiner system as a tool foridentification of fatal occupational injuries. The findings of that project, which continue to be used by injuryepidemiologists, described trends in fatal injuries, disparities by race and ethnicity, and informed injuryresearch and prevention strategies in a number of industries. We propose to build upon this parent study toprovide contemporary data regarding fatal injuries in the southeast. The proposed research will addressdeterminants of fatal occupational injuries in this large southeastern state over a 40-year time span. Theproposed study will encompass a population of nearly 10 million residents followed from 1977-2016 in a statewith a diverse economy and the fastest growing Latino population in the US. We will utilize the same caseascertainment methodology as the parent study, allowing us to generate a pooled database with an extended4-decade follow-up of the population -- a unique contribution to occupational epidemiology. This proposedupdate includes analytical aims that will yield novel, highly informative findings addressing trends anddisparities in fatal occupational injuries in North Carolina. A key stakeholder advisory panel and plannedstatewide summit will ensure that results are disseminated to key policy makers and workplace safetyadvocates. Results will inform future occupational injury research and prevention strategies in this region. Inaddition to the advisory panel and 1-day statewide summit, results will be disseminated via peer-reviewedjournals and presentations at scientific meetings, a project website and twitter handle. The proposed studyleverages a number of existing strengths by building upon longstanding collaborations between the state’sDepartment of Health and Human Services, the UNC Department of Epidemiology, and UNC’s InjuryPrevention Research Center. The work will address NORA priorities by improving understanding of injuriesacross a wide range of industrial sectors and strengthening the basis for injury prevention efforts.