RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Deindustrialisation and the long term decline in fatal occupational injuries
JF Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JO Occup Environ Med
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP 616
OP 621
DO 10.1136/oem.2003.009571
VO 61
IS 7
A1 D Loomis
A1 D B Richardson
A1 J F Bena
A1 A J Bailer
YR 2004
UL http://oem.bmj.com/content/61/7/616.abstract
AB Aims: To examine the extent to which deindustrialisation accounts for long term trends in occupational injury risk in the United States. Methods: Rates of fatal unintentional occupational injury were computed using data from death certificates and the population census. Trends were estimated using Poisson regression. Standardisation and regression methods were used to adjust for the potential effect of structural change in the labour market. Results: The fatal occupational injury rate for all industries declined 45% from 1980 to 1996 (RR (rate ratio) 0.55, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.57). Adjustment for structural changes in the workforce shifted the RR to 0.62 (95% CI 0.60 to 0.65). Expanding industries enjoyed more rapid reduction in risk (−3.43% per year, 95% CI −3.62 to −3.24) than those that contracted (−2.65% per year, 95% CI −2.88 to −2.42). Conclusions: Deindustrialisation contributed to the decline of fatal occupational injury rates in the United States, but explained only 10–15% of the total change.