Injured at Work

In the current study, the SHARP Program researchers examined State Fund workers’ compensation claims for general and selected specific hand/wrist, elbow, shoulder, neck and back disorders accepted between 1994 and 2002. They examined closed compensable claims from self-insured employers for general categories because diagnostic codes (ICD-9) were unavailable. Claims data for the lower extremity are not included in this report. Researchers also used a prevention index (PI) to identify and rank industries with a high risk
of WMSDs. By using current population survey data (1995-2002) as a denominator, researchers also estimated WMSD incidence rates by age, gender and industry sector.

This is a summary about what workers' compensation data reveal about work related-musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs).