NIOSH, Ohio Workers Compensation Bureau Sign Agreement for Work Injury Research, Prevention

Contact: Fred Blosser, (202) 245-0645
September 29, 2010

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) today announced an agreement for using workers’ compensation information in research to enhance safety practices.

NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D., and BWC Administrator Marsha Ryan signed the NIOSH/BWC Strategic Alliance, which is intended to reduce workplace injuries and increase safety research in Ohio.

"We in NIOSH are excited about this new partnership with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation," said Dr. Howard. "Workers’ compensation data represent a potentially vast but largely untapped resource for better understanding the causes and impacts of work-related injuries and illnesses. We look forward to working with Administrator Ryan and her staff to advance our common goal of safer and healthier workplaces."

"Workplace injuries often result in a financial strain for businesses," said Administrator Ryan. "It is a known fact that prevention is the key to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace. As a public workers' compensation system, BWC has at our fingertips unparalleled, comprehensive data that offer a unique opportunity for enhancing our prevention efforts. By partnering with NIOSH, we can share this valuable data to gain the knowledge that will help us understand why injuries occur, and how we can help Ohio businesses prevent accidents in the future, protecting their workforce and their bottom line."

The first collaboration under the agreement is expected to begin in October and will examine the effectiveness of occupational safety and health programs in the wholesale and retail trade sector. The goal of this four-year project is to reduce injuries and illnesses, particularly musculoskeletal disorders and traumatic slip/trip/fall injuries, in part by assessing the effectiveness and cost-benefit of the various elements of occupational safety and health programs.

NIOSH is the federal agency that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injury, illness, and death. It was created under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. NIOSH works with diverse partners to explore opportunities for using different data bases to measure the prevalence and costs of injury, illness, and death on the job. Presentations from a 2009 workshop by NIOSH and partners, examining opportunities for collaboration in using workers’ compensation to help reduce risks of injury and illnesses, are available in a recent publication at www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-152/

More information on NIOSH is available at www.cdc.gov/niosh.