Occupational injuries by hour of day and day of week: a 20‐year study

Abstract

Most epidemiological studies are based on the classic triad of host, agent and environment. In injury epidemiology, a further parameter is available, that of time of occurrence. In an earlier study 1 based on data for Queensland for the three financial years 1969/70 to 1971/72, it was shown that: (a) there were more occupational injuries in the mornings of every weekday than in the afternoons; and (b) occupational injuries occurred most frequently on Mondays, with 23% of the weekly total. The corresponding figures for the rest of the week were 21% on Tuesdays; 20% on Wednesdays; 19% on Thursdays and 17% on Fridays Since then, several studies have reported generally similar findings for distribution by time of day, 2-6 although most were restricted to one year or to one industry. Studies of the distribution by day of week were fewer but included that of Afonja, 7 who found similar reductions in the working week (MondayFriday) for white (but not the smaller number of immigrant) workers in the English cities of Birmingham, Leeds and Bradford. A United States (US) study of 8,860 injuries in a car manufacturer in 1991 8 also showed a steady reduction in the number of injuries on successive days of the working week.However, the most striking similarity was contained in the 1971-74 data of Mason 2 of the Canadian Province of British Columbia. A comparison with the Queensland data for the same four years showed that, although the Queensland totals were higher, the percentage distribution of compensated injuries in these different jurisdictions was almost identical. Details are shown in Table 1. Hopefully, the results of these and later studies may suggest remedial measures that will help reduce the number of occupational injuries.

Work‐related upper‐extremity amputations in Norway

“…Similar findings concerning work-related injuries have been observed by Wigglesworth [2006] in a study of compensation claims in Australia. Similar findings concerning work-related injuries have been observed by Wigglesworth [2006] in a study of compensation claims in Australia.…”

“…We found that the number of amputations decreased later in the week compared to early in the week. Similar findings concerning work-related injuries have been observed by Wigglesworth [2006] in a study of compensation claims in Australia. This temporal finding, although interesting, is difficult to interpret and its application to intervention efforts remain unclear.…”

What Are the Occupational Risks in Forestry? Results of a Long-Term Study in Slovakia

“…This goes against many similar studies in forestry. For example, Lagerstrom et al (2017) [39], Laschi et al (2016) [8], Tsioras et al (2014) [15], and Wigglesworth (2006) [42] all state that accidents occur on Monday most frequently, reporting that more than one-fifth of all accidents occur on this day. The differences between accident frequency during particular workweek days proved to be insignificant in our case, as approximately one-fifth of all accidents occurred on Monday and Tuesday.…”

Use of employer administrative databases to identify systematic causes of injury in aluminum manufacturing

“…Population-based surveys, such as those initiated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, emergency department surveillance systems, and state worker compensation claims are frequently the main sources of information for nonfatal occupational injury research [Layne and Pollack, 2004;Friedman and Forst, 2007;McCall and Horwitz, 2006;Mujuru et al, 2006;Wigglesworth, 2006]. While these databases are valuable sources of data, many of them lack information on key potential confounders.…”