Nature, incidence, and cause of work-related amputations in Minnesota.
BACKGROUND
The Minnesota Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) has collected data on the nature, incidence, and cause of work-related amputation injuries that have taken place since 1992.


METHODS
SENSOR defined an amputation as any finger amputation or the loss of any other body part; 832 workers were identified as having amputation injuries between 1994 and 1995 and 72% of these workers completed telephone interviews.


RESULTS
The amputation injury rate for Minnesota workers was 39 per 100,000 workers, with agriculture and manufacturing having the highest rates. Sixty-six percent of the injuries involved one finger; 14% involved two or more fingers. Persons working with machinery reported 73% of the injuries.


CONCLUSIONS
A closer examination of the incidence and causes for amputation injuries shows that these were not random events. Reliance on human reactions to prevent injury is inadequate; therefore, additional research needs to be conducted.
Boyle
D
D
Minnesota Department of Health, Chronic Disease and Environmental Epidemiology, 717 Delaware Street S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414, USA.
Parker
D
D
Larson
C
C
Pessoa-Brandão
L
L
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000145:classification* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture; D000673:Amputation, Traumatic / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005383:Finger Injuries / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D009790:Occupations / Q000145:classification; D011159:Population Surveillance