What is an occupational health indicator?
An occupational health indicator is a specific measure of a work-related disease or injury, or a factor associated with occupational health, such as workplace exposures, hazards, or interventions, in a specified population. Indicators can be generated by states to track trends in the occupational health status of the working population. Examples of occupational health indicators include counting the number of work-related deaths and work-related pesticide poisonings.
Why use occupational health indicators?
- Measure baseline health of worker populations
- Identify trends and patterns of work-related injury, illness, and death
- Anticipate early problem areas that deserve attention
- Reduce preventable workplace injuries
- Increase consistency and availability of occupational disease and injury surveillance data
Who generates occupational health indicators?
Several state public health or labor departments generate occupational health indicators. Since 2005, the Occupational Public Health Program in the Oregon Public Health Division has calculated occupational health indicators.
What occupational health indicators are generated?
Most state public health or labor departments calculate the 25 occupational health indicators listed below. Depending on the type of industries and jobs in a state and the availability of data, some states have developed additional indicators to better measure worker health in their state. At the current time, Oregon generates the 25 occupational health indicators listed below. Efforts are underway to develop and test other indicators.