Friday, December 19, 2008
Tweet[IWS] RAND: OSH for PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYEES: Assessing the Evidence and the Implications for Public Policy [18 December 2008]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
RAND
Occupational Safety and Health for Public Safety Employees
Assessing the Evidence and the Implications for Public Policy [18 December 2008]
By: Tom LaTourrette, David S. Loughran, Seth A. Seabury
http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG792/
or
http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG792.pdf
[full-text, 157 pages]
and
Summary
http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG792.sum.pdf
[full-text, 15 pages]
Police officers, firefighters, and other public safety workers are asked to put their lives at risk to protect the general public, so it is not surprising that they face exceptionally high rates of injury and fatality relative to the general workforce. To help protect public safety employees from work-related injuries and illnesses without compromising their ability to do their jobs, policymakers need a better understanding of the specific risk factors associated with different aspects of public safety occupations. To further such understanding, LaTourrette, Loughran, and Seabury conducted a literature review of research on this topic; held roundtable discussions with representatives from several public safety departments in California; and analyzed national survey data, as well as administrative data from California, to illuminate how the injury, illness, and fatality rates for public safety employees differ from those of the general workforce. The authors highlight opportunities and challenges to improving the health and safety of public safety workers.
Press Release 18 December 2008
Better Efforts Needed to Track, Prevent Career-Ending Injuries Among Public Safety Workers
http://rand.org/news/press/2008/12/18/
Non-fatal injuries to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other public safety workers are common, but little is done to track these incidents in order to improve prevention efforts, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.
"We have pretty good information about the causes of fatalities that strike public safety employees, but we do not do enough to track the less-severe injuries that routinely strike this group of workers," said Tom LaTourrette, lead author of the study and a physical scientist with RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
Non-fatal injuries among public safety workers are far more common and create more costs for employers than fatal injuries, according to the RAND study.
"This makes the lack of good data on these kinds of injuries a serious gap," LaTourrette said. "If public safety officials were able to better track how non-fatal, yet potentially disabling injuries occur, it would be easier to design a set of interventions to help reduce the risks to workers."
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
RAND
Occupational Safety and Health for Public Safety Employees
Assessing the Evidence and the Implications for Public Policy [18 December 2008]
By: Tom LaTourrette, David S. Loughran, Seth A. Seabury
http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG792/
or
http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG792.pdf
[full-text, 157 pages]
and
Summary
http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG792.sum.pdf
[full-text, 15 pages]
Police officers, firefighters, and other public safety workers are asked to put their lives at risk to protect the general public, so it is not surprising that they face exceptionally high rates of injury and fatality relative to the general workforce. To help protect public safety employees from work-related injuries and illnesses without compromising their ability to do their jobs, policymakers need a better understanding of the specific risk factors associated with different aspects of public safety occupations. To further such understanding, LaTourrette, Loughran, and Seabury conducted a literature review of research on this topic; held roundtable discussions with representatives from several public safety departments in California; and analyzed national survey data, as well as administrative data from California, to illuminate how the injury, illness, and fatality rates for public safety employees differ from those of the general workforce. The authors highlight opportunities and challenges to improving the health and safety of public safety workers.
Press Release 18 December 2008
Better Efforts Needed to Track, Prevent Career-Ending Injuries Among Public Safety Workers
http://rand.org/news/press/2008/12/18/
Non-fatal injuries to police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other public safety workers are common, but little is done to track these incidents in order to improve prevention efforts, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.
"We have pretty good information about the causes of fatalities that strike public safety employees, but we do not do enough to track the less-severe injuries that routinely strike this group of workers," said Tom LaTourrette, lead author of the study and a physical scientist with RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
Non-fatal injuries among public safety workers are far more common and create more costs for employers than fatal injuries, according to the RAND study.
"This makes the lack of good data on these kinds of injuries a serious gap," LaTourrette said. "If public safety officials were able to better track how non-fatal, yet potentially disabling injuries occur, it would be easier to design a set of interventions to help reduce the risks to workers."
AND MORE....
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 11:06 AM
