OCCUPATIONAL FATALITY TRENDS: A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

自20世纪70年代以来，美国的致命职业伤害率一直在下降。与此同时，经济结构发生了深刻的变化，可能会对工人的健康和安全以及通过公共卫生干预监测和保障他们的能力产生影响。我们建议在国家和地区层面上对致命性职业伤害的长期趋势与经济和劳动力因素的关系进行流行病学研究。这项研究的总体目标是检查致命伤害率趋势的背景。我们将考虑行业、工人群体和地理区域的差异，并分析其潜在原因，重点是经济和劳动力结构的变化。具体地说，我们试图回答以下研究问题：1)从1980年到1994年，美国、其主要地理区域、特定行业、主要职业群体和按性别、年龄和种族定义的工人群体的致命职业伤害率的年均变化是什么？2)各州和地区的特征，包括补偿水平、人口流动性、妇女和少数族裔在劳动力中的比例、教育程度、劳动力相对于资本的力量和监管环境，预测1980年和1994年之间职业死亡趋势的差异？3)对于潜在的弱势群体和其他具有更大历史优势的工人群体，1980年至1994年致命职业伤害率的相对降幅是否相等？4)如果没有劳动力结构调整，20世纪90年代中期观察到的致命职业伤害率是否与20世纪80年代初的相同？以及5)区域、行业和个人组织层面上的因素相互作用如何改变趋势？为了解决这些问题，我们将使用美国政府机构收集的数据进行背景分析。在评估区域格局时，我们将把南方作为一个特别重要的区域加以关注，因为它引领了目前的一些趋势。这项提案回应了NIOSH的两个优先领域：创伤和工作组织。这项研究既有可能产生更多关于工人安全与工作场所本身以外的更大趋势之间的关系的知识，也有可能确定随着其他工作条件的变化可以采取哪些措施来维持或改善安全。

The rate of fatal occupational injuries in the United States has been declining since the 1970s. At the same time, the structure of the economy has undergone profound changes that may have consequences for workers' health and safety, and for the ability to monitor and assure them through public health interventions. We propose an epidemiologic study of the relationship of long- term trends in fatal occupational injury to economic and labor- force factors at national and regional levels. The overall goal of the research is to examine the context of trends in fatal injury rates. We will consider differences among industrial sectors, worker groups, and geographic regions and examine some of their potential causes, focusing on structural changes in the economy and the workforce. Specifically, we seek to answer the following research questions: 1) What was the average annual change in the rate of fatal occupational injury from 1980 to 1994 for the nation, for its principal geographic regions, and for specific sectors of industry, major occupational groups and worker groups defined by sex, age, and race? 2) Do characteristics of states and regions, including compensation levels, population mobility, the proportion of women and minorities in the labor force, educational attainment, the power of labor relative to capital and regulatory climate, predict differences in occupational fatality trends between 1980 and 1994? 3) Was the relative decline in fatal occupational injury rates from 1980 to 1994 equal for potentially vulnerable groups of workers and for other worker groups with greater historical advantages? 4) Would the overall rate of fatal occupational injury observed toward the middle of the 1990s have been the same as the rate in the early 1980s if there had been no restructuring of the labor force? and 5) How are trends modified by the interplay of factors on regional, industry, and individual levels of organization? To address these questions we will conduct a contextual analysis using data collected by US governmental agencies. In evaluating regional patterns, we will devote attention to the South as a region of particular importance, which has led some current trends. This proposal responds to two NIOSH priority areas: traumatic injury, and organization of work. The research has the potential both to produce greater knowledge of the relationship of worker safety to larger trends beyond the workplace itself, and to identify steps that can be taken to maintain or improve safety as other conditions of work change.