: Illinois is the 5th largest and """"""""most average"""""""" state in the US. Its approximately 6 million workers, including a large informal sector, are employed in the most at-risk workplaces in construction, agriculture, mining, logging, transportation, manufacturing, state and municipal employment, health care and home care. The goal of this project is to establish a comprehensive Fundamental occupational safety and health surveillance program in Illinois that will enhance use of Federal and State data sources, strengthen collaborations to promote awareness of occupational health issues and actions, promote reporting to national repositories, conduct simple and complex analyses of individual and linked surveillance databases, inform and be informed by stakeholders, establish a system for setting intervention priorities, and continuously evaluate, study, and update the system. Our strong links with the state health department, workers compensation commission, and other stakeholders will allow us to report the 19 Occupational Health Indicators annually;establish a dynamic advisory board from government, business, academics, unions, non-profits, and worker groups;utilize trauma registry and ambulance databases as primary data sources;link records across databases to conduct more informative, complex data analyses;disseminate findings through a website, list of stakeholders, and courses;promote occupational health surveillance in the National EMS database and National Trauma Database;engage in priority setting activities with the Advisory Board based on surveillance results, literature reviews, and input from other state programs;and evaluate our activities by establishing benchmarks, assessing the quality and quantity of work products and the number and characteristics of who we reach. We will attend NIOSH, CSTE and national conferences to disseminate our work, learn from colleagues, and brainstorm new methods and programs to prevent occupational illnesses and injuries across the US.
| Schmitz, Matthew; Forst, Linda (2016) Industry and Occupation in the Electronic Health Record: An Investigation of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Industry and Occupation Computerized Coding System. JMIR Med Inform 4:e5 |
| Forst, Linda; Friedman, Lee; Chin, Brian et al. (2015) Spatial clustering of occupational injuries in communities. Am J Public Health 105 Suppl 3:S526-33 |
