National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS)
NIOSH collects information about nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments through the NEISS in collaboration with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (data are collected without regard to consumer product involvement). Data are abstracted from emergency department records in a national probability-based sample of 67 hospitals with 24-hr emergency departments. Case information is collected for noninstitutionalized civilian workers who were working for pay or other compensation, doing production-related activities on a farm or ranch, or working as a volunteer for an organized group at the time that they were injured or became ill. Cases are included without regard to age or other demographic characteristics, industry or size of employer, self or household employment, or indication of workers’ compensation as medical care payer. However, for the purposes of this Chartbook, only emergency department-treated injuries and illnesses to workers aged 15 and older were included. Each included case is assigned a statistical weight on the basis of the size (annual number of emergency department visits) for the hospital where treatment was received. By using the statistical weights, nationally representative estimates of emergency department-treated injuries and illnesses are made and can be characterized by demographics, nature of injury/illness, and injury event characteristics.
NEISS estimates are for nonfatal injuries and illnesses treated in an emergency department and as such exclude those workplace injuries or illnesses treated in other medical venues. Additionally, occupational fatalities, military injuries/illnesses, revisits to the emergency department, common illnesses (e.g., cold or flu), and routine drug and alcohol screenings are excluded. Indications of lost-work time or medical claim payer are not included in NEISS. As a result of the types of injuries and illnesses treated in an emergency department, the broad, unrestricted population base, and the limitations of information available in emergency department records, NEISS estimates of work-related injuries and illnesses are complementary to BLS estimates through the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and are not directly comparable.
NEISS work-related injury and illness data are publicly available through an online query system: Work-Related Injury Statistics Query System (Work-RISQS) [www2a.cdc.gov/risqs]. Technical details of the NEISS work-related injury and illness data collection, query help, and additional work-related statistics resources are available in addition to user-directed queries for national injury/illness estimates and rates per 100 full-time workers.
For further information, contact
Surveillance and Field Investigations Branch
Division of Safety Research
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
1095 Willowdale Rd, MS H–1808
Morgantown, WV 26505
Telephone: 304–285–5916
www2a.cdc.gov/risqs
