Toxicology testing of fatally injured workers is not routinely conducted. We completed a case-series study of 2005–2009 occupational fatalities captured by Iowa’s Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program. The goals of our research were to: (1) measure the proportion of FACE cases that undergo toxicology testing, and describe the factors associated with being tested, and (2) measure the rate of positive toxicology tests, the substances identified and the demographics and occupations of victims who tested positive. Case documents and toxicology laboratory reports were reviewed. There were 427 occupational deaths from 2005 to 2009. Only 69% underwent toxicology testing. Younger workers had greater odds of being tested. Among occupational groups, workers in farming, fishing and forestry had half the odds of being tested compared to other occupational groups. Of the 280 cases with toxicology tests completed, 22% (n = 61) were found to have positive toxicology testing. Commonly identified drug classes included cannabinoids and alcohols. Based on the small number of positive tests, older victims (65+ years) tested positive more frequently than younger workers. Management, business, science, arts, service and sales/office workers had proportionately more positive toxicology tests (almost 30%) compared with other workers (18–22%). These results identify an area in need of further research efforts and a potential target for injury prevention strategies.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of roadway policies for lighting and marking of farm equipment in reducing crashes in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.MethodsIn this ecological study, state policies on lighting and marking of farm equipment were scored for compliance with standards of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Using generalized estimating equations negative binomial models, we estimated the relationships between lighting and marking scores, and farm equipment crash rates, per 100 000 farm operations.ResultsA total of 7083 crashes involving farm equipment was reported from 2005 to 2010 in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains. As the state lighting and marking score increased by 5 units, crash rates reduced by 17% (rate ratio=0.83; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.88). Lighting-only (rate ratio=0.48; 95% CI 0.45 to 0.51) and marking-only policies (rate ratio=0.89; 95% CI 0.83 to 0.96) were each associated with reduced crash rates.ConclusionsAligning lighting and marking policies with ASABE standards may effectively reduce crash rates involving farm equipment.

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Background Studies often rely on death certificates to identify cancer occurrence. This research assessed the death certificate's ability to reflect cancer incidence and factors that influence agreement with cancer registry data. Methods This study compared death certificates to cancer incidence data for an occupational cohort of 1,795 deceased workers who were registered by the Iowa Cancer Registry (ICR) between 1973 and 2005. Logistic regression models examined the effects of factors such as survival time, age at diagnosis, and gender on the odds of agreement between death certificate and incidence data. Results Death certificates under‐reported cancer incidence by 10–100%, depending on site. A 1‐year increase in survival decreased the odds of agreement between death certificate and ICR data by 18%. Younger and female workers had increased odds of agreement. Conclusions Death certificates can be useful predictors of cancer incidence, particularly for diseases with shorter survival and among subjects diagnosed earlier in life. Am. J. Ind. Med. 57:153–162, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Objective.-To estimate the prevalence of alcohol impairment in crashes involving farm equipment on public roadways and the effect of alcohol impairment on the odds of crash injury or fatality.Methods.-On-road farm equipment crashes were collected from four Great Plains state Departments of Transportation during 2005-2010. Alcohol impairment was defined as an involved driver having blood alcohol content of ≥0.08g/100ml or a finding of alcohol-impaired as a driver contributing circumstance recorded on the police crash report. Injury or fatality was categorized as: a) no injury (no and possible injury combined), b) injury (non-incapacitating or incapacitating injury,) and c) fatality. Hierarchical multivariable logistic regression modeling, clustered on crash, was used to estimate the odds of an injury/fatality in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver.Results.-During the five years under study, 3.1% (61 of 1971) of on-road farm equipment crashes involved an alcohol-impaired driver. One in twenty (5.6%) injury crashes and one in six (17.8%) fatality crashes involved an alcohol-impaired driver. The non-farm equipment driver was