Fatal and non-fatal injuries in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors remain both elevated and poorly documented, compared to other work settings. The proposed surveillance project expands on the current Risk Information System for Commercial (RISC) Fishing, to encompass agriculture, forestry, and fishing in the four state (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington) PNASH region.
Project aims are to:
- track regional occupational injury and illness in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors;
- identify activity-, person-, setting-, and industry-specific predictors of AgFF injury and illness to identify injury control opportunities; and,
- collaborate with PNASH project advisory groups to identify opportunities for injury-control, develop targeted communications, and promote adoption of evidence-based injury control measures.
Data from both emergent systems (e.g. trauma and EMS) and lagging indicators (e.g. workers’ compensation) will be linked to document AgFF injuries over time, identifying work settings and activities associated with injuries, describing the nature and severity of injuries, detailing both immediate and longer-term injury treatment, and characterizing worker groups at greatest risk of injury. A demonstrated AgFF-specific matching algorithm developed in our previous work will be used to identify cases and merge data across sources. Innovative technological approaches will identify additional cases as well as settings, activities, injuries, and injury responses not routinely captured. Partnerships with NIOSH-supported state surveillance systems will enhance impact and sustainability. The project explicitly pairs surveillance activities with outreach and engagement, to promote translation into practice. Findings and activities will be available at a PNASH interactive data portal, facilitating guided exploration of surveillance data and identifying thematic similarities hypothesized by our Technical Advisory Group, PNASH project advisories, policymakers, and the general public.
Progress to Date
We have created a data analysis plan that follows the National Institutes of Health Data Management and Sharing Plan guidance, which was co-developed by DEOHS and PNASH personnel. We also created a draft dashboard using publicly-available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Next Steps
We will continue to manage the administrative setup for our project. We will also focus on establishing partnerships in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska.
Partners and Collaborators
- NIOSH Western States Division in Alaska
- Oregon Sea Grant
- Washington Sea Grant
- Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
Principal Investigator: Viktor Bovbjerg, Professor, Oregon State University
NIOSH Funding Period 2022-2027