SURVEILLANCE

Outputs: Injury, Illness, Mortality, and Exposure Data

Lead Surveillance Data
The ABLES program is a state-based surveillance program of laboratory-reported adult blood lead levels. This NIOSH topic page provides data and information on lead. It encapsulates our efforts to build state capacity to initiate, expand, or improve adult blood lead surveillance programs that can accurately measure trends in adult blood lead levels and that can effectively intervene to prevent lead over-exposures.

Mining Data and Statistics
NIOSH's Pittsburgh and Spokane Research Laboratories are involved in the ongoing collection, analysis, and interpretation of safety and health data related to mining occupations in order to report on the overall incidence, prevalence, and significance of mining occupational safety and health problems. Reports on trends in incidence of mining-related fatalities, morbidity, and traumatic injury are prepared. Involvement includes the participation and coordination of research projects and institute-wide surveillance initiatives.

National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) Data
NIOSH conducted the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) from 1981-1983, collecting data on potential occupational exposures to chemical, physical, and biological agents. The survey involved on-site visits to 4,490 establishments in 522 industry types (OMB 1972) employing approximately 1,800,000 workers in 377 occupational categories (Census 1980). Nearly 13,000 different potential exposure agents and over 100,000 unique trade name products were observed during these on-site visits.

Occupational Respiratory Mortality System
The National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System (NORMS) is a data-storage and interactive data-retrieval system developed and maintained by NIOSH. The National Surveillance System for Pneumoconiosis Mortality (NSSPM), the precursor to NORMS, is now one of its components. NORMS is a compilation of national mortality data obtained annually since 1968 (unless otherwise indicated) from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) multiple cause of death records .

Pesticides Poisoning Cases Database
Surveillance for occupational pesticide-related illness and injury is designed to protect workers by determining the magnitude and underlying causes of over-exposure to pesticides in the workplace. Surveillance also serves as an early warning system of any harmful effects not detected by manufacturer testing of pesticides. This topic page provides data and information on our efforts to build and maintain occupational pesticide illness and injury surveillance capacity within state health departments.

Standardized Occupation and Industry Coding (SOIC) Software
The Standardized Occupation and Industry Coding (SOIC) software automates the coding process for industry and occupation (I&O) narratives from death certificates, cancer registries, and other record systems. The software assigns codes according to the 1990 Bureau of the Census industry and occupation codes and supplemental codes from the National Center for Health Statistics. This site provides a downloadable version of the SOIC software and User’s Manual as well as other SOIC information and installation resources.

Surveillance of Mortality and Morbidity in U.S. Workers
This NIOSH-funded study seeks to evaluate time trends for morbidity and longitudinal mortality associated with industries and occupations, using the publicly available National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) database.

Workplace Data and Statistics
The Workplace Data and Statistics page provides quick access to a broad range of CDC/NIOSH surveillance resources connected to research initiatives across the Institute. Use the page as a central checkpoint for the latest NIOSH surveillance data and statistical resources as well as important NIOSH historic surveillance information.

Work-Related Injury Statistics
Identifying problems in traumatic injury research, as in much of public health, is driven by surveillance. Surveillance is "the ongoing collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data in the process of describing and monitoring a health (injury) event." For occupational safety research, this refers to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on injuries, hazards, and exposures for identifying potential risk factors for further research, and for prevention planning and intervention evaluation [from Traumatic Occupational Injury Research Needs and Priorities: A Report by the NORA Traumatic Injury Team, DHHS (NIOSH) PUBLICATION No. 98-134]. Work-RISQS provides a Web-based public access query system for obtaining national estimates (number of cases) and rates (number of cases per hour worked) for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments. Users may interactively query based on demographic characteristics, nature of injury/illness, and incident circumstances for the years 1998 and 1999.

NIOSH Worker Health Chartbook
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication 2004-146
The Worker Health Chartbook, 2004 is a descriptive epidemiologic reference on occupational morbidity and mortality in the United States. A resource for agencies, organizations, employers, researchers, workers, and others who need to know about occupational injuries and illnesses, the Chartbook includes more than 400 figures and tables describing the magnitude, distribution, and trends of the nation's occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.