Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2013 Oct;56(10):1137-48. doi: 10.1002/ajim.22198. Epub 2013 Jul 16.
Drywall installers are at high-risk of work-related injury. Comprehensive descriptive epidemiology of injuries among drywall installers, particularly over time, is lacking.
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.
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.
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.
干墙安装工面临着较高的工作相关伤害风险。缺乏对干墙安装工受伤情况的全面描述性流行病学研究，尤其是随着时间的推移。
我们确定了工人的工作时间，并报告和受理了 20 年来（1989-2008 年）华盛顿州工会木匠的工人补偿（WC）索赔，涉及 24830 名工人。按主要工作类型（干墙安装、其他木工）分层，研究了日历时间和工人特征的工作相关伤害率。专家访谈提供了背景细节。
干墙安装工的受伤率高于其他木匠，在此期间下降了 73.6%。常见的受伤机制包括被撞击/撞击、过度用力和摔倒。干墙材料被认为是 19.7%的受伤原因。这些与干墙材料相关的受伤中有三分之一导致了带薪缺勤，而其他来源的受伤中只有 19.4%。在工会工作 2 至<4 年的工人中，受伤率尤其高。即使控制了时间上的趋势，在与干墙材料有关的过度用力伤害方面，随着时间的推移，受伤率仍显著下降。专家们强调了过去 20 年来的变化，这些变化改善了工作安全，在某些情况下还提高了生产效率。
随着时间的推移，干墙安装工的受伤率下降，这可能部分反映了工作场所安全的提高，包括减少与搬运干墙相关的过度用力危险的努力。仍需要继续进行伤害预防工作，特别是对任期较短的工人。鉴于向 WC 报告的潜在不足，其他健康结果数据来源可能提供更全面的工人健康状况。
