Occupational Injuries of Aquaculture Workers: Washington State

ABSTRACT

Objective: To characterize occupational injuries of aquaculture workers in Washington State.

Methods: We reviewed accepted Washington State workers’ compensation claims from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2014. Trends in employment, worker demographics (including age, sex, and body mass index), claim rate, and injury characteristics were summarized for accepted claims in the Washington State risk classes that include aquaculture workers.

Results: During the nine-year study period, there were 1,180 accepted claims, 836 (65.1%) were medical-aid only and 344 (26.8%) were compensable. Most commonly reported injury types included being struck by/against an object (n = 420) and work-related musculoskeletal disorders (n = 310). Over the study period, there was no statistically significant change in claim rates in aquaculture (p = 0.77), though they were elevated compared to claim rates for all WA industries combined. A significant upward trend (p = 0.003) in aquaculture employment was observed during our study period.

Conclusions: Given the growth in aquaculture production, and that aquaculture workers in Washington are experiencing higher occupational injury rates compared to other workers in the state, our study suggests that the industry should devote greater attention to prevention of work-related injuries, especially those resulting in being struck by/against objects or work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Enhanced occupational safety and health programs for this industry could help reduce injuries, as well as the cost of workers’ compensation claims.

KEYWORDS:

• Aquaculture
• occupational health
• safety

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Darrin Adams and David Bonauto of the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries for assistance with data management and review of this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The contact author was supported by Grant 2T42OH008433-11, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ms. Anderson is supported by CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreement Number 5 U60 OH008487-13. The manuscripts contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.