Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2022 Jan;65(1):30-40. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23305. Epub 2021 Oct 27.
Mining is a significant economic force in the United States but has historically had among the highest nonfatal injury rates across all industries. Several factors, including workplace hazards and psychosocial stressors, may increase injury and fatality risk. Mining is one of the noisiest industries; however, the association between injury risk and noise exposure has not been evaluated in this industry. In this ecological study, we assessed the association between noise exposure and nonfatal and fatal occupational injury rates among miners.
Federal US mining accident, injury, and illness data sets from 1983 to 2014 were combined with federal quarterly mining employment and production reports to quantify annual industry rates of nonfatal injuries and fatalities. An existing job-exposure matrix for occupational noise was used to estimate annual industry time-weighted average (TWA, dBA) exposures. Negative binomial models were used to assess relationships between noise, hearing conservation program (HCP) regulation changes in 2000, year, and mine type with incidence rates of injuries and fatalities.
Noise, HCP regulation changes, and mine type were each independently associated with nonfatal injuries and fatalities. In multivariate analysis, each doubling (5 dB increase) of TWA was associated with 1.08 (95% confidence interval: 1.05, 1.11) and 1.48 (1.23, 1.78) times higher rate of nonfatal injuries and fatalities, respectively. HCP regulation changes were associated with 0.61 (0.54, 0.70) and 0.49 (0.34, 0.71) times lower nonfatal injury and fatality rates, respectively.
Noise may be a significant independent risk factor for injuries and fatalities in mining.
采矿业是美国的重要经济力量，但在所有行业中，其非致命性伤害率历来最高。一些因素，包括工作场所的危害和心理社会压力源，可能会增加受伤和死亡的风险。采矿业是噪音最大的行业之一；然而，在这个行业中，受伤风险与噪声暴露之间的关系尚未得到评估。在这项生态学研究中，我们评估了噪声暴露与矿工中非致命性和致命性职业伤害率之间的关系。
我们将 1983 年至 2014 年美国联邦采矿事故、伤害和疾病数据集与联邦季度采矿就业和生产报告相结合，以量化非致命性伤害和致命性伤害的年度行业发生率。使用现有的职业噪声工作暴露矩阵来估计年度行业时间加权平均（TWA，dBA）暴露量。使用负二项式模型评估噪声、听力保护计划（HCP）监管变化（2000 年）、年份和矿山类型与伤害和死亡发生率之间的关系。
噪声、HCP 监管变化和矿山类型均与非致命性伤害和致命性伤害独立相关。在多变量分析中，TWA 每增加 5dB（增加 5 分贝），非致命性伤害和致命性伤害的发生率分别增加 1.08（95%置信区间：1.05，1.11）和 1.48（1.23，1.78）倍。HCP 监管变化分别与非致命性伤害和致命性伤害的发生率降低 0.61（0.54，0.70）和 0.49（0.34，0.71）倍相关。
噪声可能是采矿业伤害和死亡的一个重要独立危险因素。
