Publications by authors named "Alysha R Meyers"
Article Synopsis
- - The study analyzed over 2 million workers' compensation claims from Ohio (2001-2018) to identify cases related to respiratory diseases, focusing on the specific industries and the characteristics of these claims.
- - Out of 23,015 respiratory-related claims, a significant majority involved allergic reactions and toxic substance exposure, with common causes attributed to chemical exposure and various harmful gases or dust.
- - The highest rates of respiratory claims were found in agriculture, public safety (specifically ambulance services), and manufacturing sectors, indicating a need for improved public health surveillance and intervention in these industries.
Objective: This study analyzed Ohio workers' compensation data to identify potential prevention strategies for common oil and gas extraction industry claims.
Methods: Claim rates for 2001-2018 were calculated per full-time equivalent employee. Descriptive analyses on free-text descriptions of lost-time (LT) claims (>7 days away from work) identified common characteristics among claims and injured workers.
Background: This study examined age-group differences in the rate, severity, and cost of injuries among construction workers to support evidence-based worker safety and health interventions in the construction industry.
Methods: Ohio workers' compensation claims for construction workers were used to estimate claim rates and costs by age group. We analyzed claims data auto-coded into five event/exposure categories: transportation incidents; slips, trips, and falls (STFs); exposure to harmful substances and environments; contact with objects and equipment (COB); overexertion and bodily reaction.
Problem: Compared to other industries, construction workers have higher risks for serious fall injuries. This study describes the burden and circumstances surrounding injuries related to compensable slip, trip, and fall (STF) claims from private construction industries covered by the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
Methods: STF injury claims in the Ohio construction industry from 2010-2017 were manually reviewed.
Observer, manual single-frame video, and automated computer vision measures of the Hand Activity Level (HAL) were compared. HAL can be measured three ways: (1) observer rating (HAL), (2) calculated from single-frame multimedia video task analysis for measuring frequency (F) and duty cycle (D) (HAL), or (3) from automated computer vision (HAL). This study analysed videos collected from three prospective cohort studies to ascertain HAL, HAL, and HAL for 419 industrial videos.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although recent studies have identified important risk factors associated with incident carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), risk factors associated with its severity have not been well explored.
Objective: To examine the associations between personal, workplace psychosocial and biomechanical factors and incident work disability among workers with CTS.
Methods: Between 2001 and 2010 five research groups conducted coordinated prospective studies of CTS and related work disability among US workers from various industries.
Introduction: This study analyzed workers' compensation (WC) claims among private employers insured by the Ohio state-based WC carrier to identify high-risk industries by detailed cause of injury.
Methods: A machine learning algorithm was used to code each claim by U.S.
Objective: This prospective study assessed the risk of developing rotator cuff syndrome (RCS) with separate or specific combinations of biomechanical exposures measures, controlling for individual confounders.
Background: Compared with other musculoskeletal disorders, rates of work-related shoulder musculoskeletal disorders have been declining more slowly.
Method: We conducted up to 2 years of individual, annual assessments of covariates, exposures, and health outcomes for 393 U.
Overexertion is a leading cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among construction workers. Nearly 90% of construction jobs require manual handling of materials for approximately one half of the worker's time (1). In 2015, overexertion from lifting and lowering materials caused 30% of WMSDs among construction workers; overexertion involving pushing, pulling, holding, carrying, and catching materials caused an additional 37% of WMSDs (1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous recent assessments indicate that meat and poultry processing facility workers are at increased risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1-4). Physical proximity to other workers and shared equipment can facilitate disease transmission in these settings (2-4). The disproportionate number of foreign-born workers employed in meat and poultry processing reflects structural, social, and economic inequities that likely contribute to an increased COVID-19 incidence in this population* (5).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The purpose of this analysis was to identify and prioritize high-risk industry groups for traumatic brain injury (TBI) prevention efforts.
Methods: Workers with TBI from 2001 to 2011 were identified from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation data. To prioritize industry groups by claim type (lost-time (≥8 days away from work) and total claims) and injury event categories, we used a prevention index (PI) that averaged TBI counts and rate ranks (PI = (count rank + rate rank)/2).
Recent studies have shown the 2001 American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for Hand Activity was not sufficiently protective for workers at risk of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). These studies led to a revision of the TLV and Action Limit. This study compares the effect of applying the 2018 TLV vs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to describe levels of integration between occupational safety and health (OSH) and workplace wellness programs/practices/policies ("programs") among participants in an insurer-sponsored wellness grant program.
Methods: We analyzed survey responses about year 1 of an insurer-sponsored grant to start a wellness program from 220 small- and medium-sized employers. Responses yielded 25 indicators of OSH-wellness integration, and 10 additional indicators to summarize multiple responses.
Background: Ambulance service workers frequently transfer and transport patients. These tasks involve occupational injury risks such as heavy lifting, awkward postures, and frequent motor vehicle travel.
Methods: We examined Ohio workers' compensation injury claims among state-insured ambulance service workers working for private employers from 2001 to 2011.
Background: There is growing use of a job exposure matrix (JEM) to provide exposure estimates in studies of work-related musculoskeletal disorders; few studies have examined the validity of such estimates, nor did compare associations obtained with a JEM with those obtained using other exposures.
Objective: This study estimated upper extremity exposures using a JEM derived from a publicly available data set (Occupational Network, O*NET), and compared exposure-disease associations for incident carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with those obtained using observed physical exposure measures in a large prospective study.
Methods: 2393 workers from several industries were followed for up to 2.
Objective: This study leveraged a state workers' compensation claims database and machine learning techniques to target prevention efforts by injury causation and industry.
Methods: Injury causation auto-coding methods were developed to code more than 1.2 million Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation claims for this study.
Background: Workers' compensation (WC) claims data may be useful for identifying high-risk industries and developing prevention strategies.
Methods: WC claims data from private-industry employers insured by the Ohio state-based workers' compensation carrier from 2001 to 2011 were linked with the state's unemployment insurance (UI) data on the employer's industry and number of employees. National Labor Productivity and Costs survey data were used to adjust UI data and estimate full-time equivalents (FTE).
Mortality among styrene-exposed workers in the reinforced plastic boatbuilding industry.
Occup Environ Med
February 2016
Background: We updated mortality through 2011 for 5203 boat-building workers potentially exposed to styrene, and analysed mortality among 1678 employed a year or more between 1959 and 1978. The a priori hypotheses: excess leukaemia and lymphoma would be found.
Methods: Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) and 95% CIs and standardised rate ratios (SRRs) used Washington State rates and a person-years analysis programme, LTAS.
Background: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a program in which a workers' compensation (WC) insurer provided matching funds to insured employers to implement safety/health engineering controls.
Methods: Pre- and post-intervention WC metrics were compiled for the employees designated as affected by the interventions within 468 employers for interventions occurring from 2003 to 2009. Poisson, two-part, and linear regression models with repeated measures were used to evaluate differences in pre- and post-data, controlling for time trends independent of the interventions.
Background: Stationary sawing machinery is often a basic tool in the wood product manufacturing industry and was the source for over 2,500 injury/illness events that resulted in days away from work in 2010.
Methods: We examined 9 years of workers' compensation claims for the state of Ohio in wood product manufacturing with specific attention to saw-related claims. For the study period, 8,547 claims were evaluated; from this group, 716 saw-related cases were examined.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop alternative Strain Index risk classification categories.
Background: Strain Index scores are usually categorized into four Strain Index "risk categories." The "original" risk categories were developed in the meat-packing industry and may not be fully applicable to other industries.
Objective: To better characterize associations between physical risk factors and upper-extremity musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders, a prospective epidemiologic study of 386 manufacturing workers was performed.
Background: Methodological limitations of previous studies have resulted in inconsistent associations.
Method: An individual, task-based exposure assessment strategy was used to assess upper-extremity exertion intensity, repetition, and time-in-posture categories.
Background: To further evaluate the association between formaldehyde and leukemia, we extended follow-up through 2008 for a cohort mortality study of 11,043 US formaldehyde-exposed garment workers.
Methods: We computed standardized mortality ratios and standardized rate ratios stratified by year of first exposure, exposure duration, and time since first exposure. Associations between exposure duration and rates of leukemia and myeloid leukemia were further examined using Poisson regression models.