Standardizing industrial hygiene data collection forms used by workers’ compensation insurers

Abstract

Workers' compensation (WC) insurers collect large amounts of industrial hygiene (IH) data in the United States. The data collected is not easily accessible for research or surveillance purposes. Individual WC insurers are using computerized systems to standardize and store the IH data, leaving a gap in standardization among the different WC insurers. This study sought to standardize IH data collection among WC insurers and to determine the feasibility of pooling collected IH data. IH air and noise survey forms were collected from WC insurers. Data fields on the forms were evaluated for importance and a study list of core fields was developed. The core study list was presented to an IH review panel for review before finalization. The final core study list was compared to recommendations published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA). Fifty-nine forms from 10 organizations were collected. Industrial hygienists from research organizations, state-based WC insurers, and private WC insurers participated in the data field evaluation and on the review panel. For both air and noise survey forms, more than half the data fields (55% and 54%, respectively) were ranked as "essential." Three of the four fields in the worker and control observations category ranked "essential" were found less than half of the time on both types of survey forms. The study list of core data elements consisted of more than half of the data fields from both the air and noise survey forms. Three additional fields were added based on the comparison to the ACGIH-AIHA recommendations. Data fields essential to standardizing IH data collection were identified and verified. The "essential" data fields will be made available and have the potential to be incorporated into WC insurers electronic IH data management systems. Future research should focus on other IH survey forms, such as those used in ergonomic assessments and specific chemical exposures, and methods to transfer data fields to electronic platforms.

Evaluation of Heat Stress Control Worker in Kiln and Cast Shop at PT X

“…Keduanya merupakan sumber penting dari panas. Dalam beberapa kasus, aktivitas fisik yang tinggi dapat menjadi sumber utama tekanan panas (Babik et al, 2018 (Balakrishnan et al, 2010;Boonruksa et al, 2020). Tekanan panas yang memajan pekerja akan menyebabkan heat strain.…”

“…Pajanan panan yang berlebihan dapat terlihat dari beberapa indikator. Apabila pajanan tersebut masuk ke dalam salah satu indikator yang ada maka pekerjaan harus segera dihentikan (Babik et al, 2018;Smith & Perfetti, 2019). Untuk mengetahui apakah heat stress telah memajan pekerja diperlukan pengukuran baik itu pengukuran melalui lingkungan maupun pengukuran personal.…”