R.A.
Gilmore and L.A. Shireley
NIOSH Education and Information Division
In 1990,
the North Dakota State Department of Health and Consolidated
Laboratories (NDSDHCL) was one of ten states awarded a five-year
grant from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) to initiate a surveillance program to identify
injuries and illnesses affecting agricultural workers in North
Dakota. Five agricultural occupational health nurses are responsible
for conducting surveillance in a defined geographical area.
The surveillance program is based on voluntary reporting by
health care providers in clinics and hospitals throughout
the state. An initial reporting form is used to provide preliminary
information regarding injuries and illnesses; follow-up is
conducted to obtain more complete information. Alternative
reporting mechanisms are utilized at the request of the health
care provider. The information obtained from the surveillance
program is used to develop intervention and educational programs
for prevention of identified problems.
This
presentation will include a discussion of the surveillance
program including a brief overview of the epidemiology of
agricultural-related injuries and illnesses in North Dakota.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent
NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission
of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and
Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: The North Dakota State Dept.
of Health and Consolidated Labs, Bismarck, ND respectively.
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