title: Occupational health and safety surveillance and research using workers' compensation data.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine uses of US workers' compensation (WC) data for occupational safety and health purposes.
  
  
  METHODS
  This article is a summary of the proceedings from an invitational workshop held in September 2009 to discuss the use of WC data for occupational safety and health prevention purposes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Workers' compensation data systems, although limited in many ways, contain information such as medical treatments, their costs and outcomes, and disability causes that are unavailable from national occupational surveillance sources.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite their limitations, WC records are collected in a manner consistent with many occupational health and safety surveillance needs. Reports are available on the use of WC data for surveillance and research purposes such as estimating the frequency, magnitude, severity, and cost of compensated injuries. Inconsistencies in WC data can limit generalization of research results.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH, USA. dutterback@cdc.gov
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Utterback
authors.forename: Teresa M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Schnorr
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Silverstein
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Spieler
authors.forename: Tom B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Leamon
authors.forename: Benjamin C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Amick
mesh_terms: D003226:Congresses as Topic; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017751:Safety Management / Q000379:methods*; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*