Time-specific security interventions wanted to enhance building employee security, OSU research finds | Information

Construction workers are most likely to experience traumatic injuries in the first four hours of their shift, and those who work evening or night shifts are more likely to suffer more severe injuries than their day-shift counterparts, a recent Oregon State University study found.

The study is one of the first to analyze data on employee compensation claims by hours worked, which means its findings can be used to better tailor specific safety measures in the workplace, said lead author Liu Yang.

“I really hope people can learn from this and realize that the chances of getting injured or suffering more severe injuries are related to the hours you work,” said Yang, a graduate student at OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences.

The study, which appears in the Journal of Occupational Health, examined 12,222 workers’ compensation claims from the Oregon construction industry from 2007 to 2013 that were recognized by insurers as disabled. “Disability entitlements” mean that the employee has missed at least three working days due to the work-related injury or illness, or that the injury must be hospitalized overnight or could result in permanent disability or death.

Common injuries in construction are falls; work-related musculoskeletal disorders including joint inflammation, tendinitis, and pinched nerves; and wounds sustained after being hit by objects.

The overall disability claim rate declined significantly from 2007 to 2013, but construction is still one of the most dangerous industries to claim, and Oregon does worse than other states. Census data shows Oregon’s non-fatal work-related injury and illness rate in the construction industry was 1.6 times higher than the national rate in 2017.

According to the OSU study, almost 80% of injuries occurred among workers aged 25 to 54, although older workers incurred much higher medical costs and missed more work days than they were injured. Overall, the average medical compensation per injury was $ 12,000 and the average job loss was 80.5 days.

During the working day, workers were most likely to suffer an injury during their fourth hour of work. The hourly injury rate decreased thereafter, but increased slightly at the end of an eight-hour shift.

While injuries were less common after the fourth hour of work, injuries reported at that point tended to be more serious. Based on the data, Yang speculated that most construction workers would take a mid-shift or lunch break and experience some restorative benefits. However, if they cannot do this, they may risk more serious injuries. She hopes future studies can examine what impact fractures – or lack of them – have on the frequency and severity of injuries.

The study also looked at injuries in workers who start after 6 p.m. and work evening or night shifts. It was a small sample because few subsectors of the construction work worked at night, but evening and night shift workers were injured more often and more severely than day shift workers.

Young workers aged 16 to 24 were also a vulnerable population with the highest injury rates. Yang is working with the Oregon Health Authority to take a closer look at the risk factors of young workers in the hopes that they can establish certain safety measures to avoid workplace injuries.

Two measures that could help are improved supervision and work organization in the workplace that takes working hours into account, and strict enforcement of mandatory rest and meal breaks, Yang said.

“In Oregon, we have rules on breaks. However, it is unclear what experience workers have in practice, ”she said. “The construction industry is fast moving. They may need to get their job done at a specific time so that they may not be able to take their rest and meal breaks as needed. “