Low-back injuries in a heavy industry. II. Labor market forces.

Trends in rates of low-back strains, low-back impact injuries, and non-low-back injuries among field employees of a petroleum drilling company, 1979-1985, were examined to investigate the relationship between economic factors and the incidence of low-back and other injuries. Economic indicators included the rate of resignations, a surrogate for turnover, and the rate of layoffs. Only lost-time low-back strain rates increased during times of worker layoffs.

Low-back injuries in a heavy industry. I. Worker and workplace factors.

The costs and circumstances of low-back strains, low-back impact injuries, and non-low-back injuries among field employees of an offshore petroleum drilling company, 1979-1985, were compared. The objectives were to identify worker and workplace factors associated with low-back injuries, to identify factors differentially associated with lost-time injuries, and to formulate recommendations for the control of low-back injuries. Low-back-impact injuries resulted largely from falls.

Evaluation of an occupational injury intervention in the petroleum drilling industry.

Installation of power makeup equipment (PME) on 13 of 30 mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs) under study in the Gulf of Mexico provided an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of this device in reducing drill floor injuries. Two groups of injuries were defined on the basis of worker activity at the time of injury and the vehicle of mechanical energy; one group, "related" injuries, were preventable by the PME; the other group, "unrelated" injuries, should not have been affected by the PME. Two quasiexperimental evaluation designs were employed.

The "accident prone" worker: an example from heavy industry.

A study of workers in a heavy industry shows that the proportion of workers with excessive injuries in two successive time periods did not exceed that expected by chance. While accident repeaters may exist, they were not a stable component of this workforce. Removing individuals with excessive injuries in a given time would not appreciably reduce the number of injuries in succeeding periods.

Factors affecting individual injury experience among petroleum drilling workers.

To identify factors affecting the number of injuries experienced by petroleum drilling workers, we carried out a 44-month incidence density study on a cohort employed in January 1979 on mobile drilling units in the Gulf of Mexico. To control for job-related hazards, we computed a standardized ratio of observed to expected injuries for each worker based on his job history. The effect of personal and work history factors was then examined using analysis of variance.

Hospital falls: a persistent problem.

During a 22-month period in 1981-82, 250 falls were recorded at a 152-bed acute care specialty hospital in a United States metropolitan area. Rates were highest for patients age 65 years and older and for patients admitted with mental disorders. Patients who had fallen once had a subsequent fall rate of 91.

Major mishaps among mobile offshore drilling units, 1955-1981: time trends and fatalities.

Major mishaps among mobile offshore drilling units worldwide from 1955-1981 were identified from industry and government sources. Based on annual numbers of rigs in service and typical staffing patterns, annual mishap rates and fatality rates for rig types and mishap categories were computed. While the frequency of major mishaps has increased in recent years, the mishap rate per 100 rig-years of service has remained stable.

A model for the incorporation of alumni-faculty feedback into curriculum planning.

Recent changes in the scope and nature of public health jobs and the characteristics of public health students prompted the development and testing of a strategy for curriculum planning based on information obtained from alumni and faculty. Identification of job activities viewed as important by both faculty and alumni for the largest number of job groups suggested a management-oriented core curriculum which could be supplemented by skills and knowledge related to the type of job which the student was preparing to enter.

Diarrheal diseases of infancy in Cali, Colombia: study design and summary report on isolated disease agents.

For public health reasons, it is important that the etiologic agents of early childhood diarrhea be isolated and identified, and that their routes of transmission be defined. This is especially true in tropical and subtropical developing countries, where childhood patterns of exposure to diarrheal disease agents usually differ from those in developed countries, and where diarrheal illness is a frequent harbinger of death among children under five years of age. This artical describes a study designed to identify diarrheal disease agents and transmission patterns in Cali, a large city of western Colombia's fertile Cauca River Valley.

The imported fire ant: dimensions of the urban problem.

Although the imported fire ant is a known rural problem, the problem it may pose to urban dwellers has not been documented. A telephone survey of 240 households selected by a probability sample of an upper middle class suburb of New Orleans was carried out to ascertain the experiences of residents with fire ants from June to August 1973. Overall, ant stings were reported for 29% of the study population, with sting rates of 55% among children under 10 years old.

Age-associated changes in fecal excretion patterns of strain 93 chick embryo lethal orphan virus in chicks.

Oral incoulation of chickens with strain 93 (chick embryo lethal orphan) virus produced a subclinical infection of the gastrointestinal tract. The pattern of fecal virus excretion in birds infected at 4 or more weeks of age (adult pattern) differed from that in chicks infected when newly hatched (juvenile pattern). By comparison with the juvenile pattern, the adult pattern was characterized by lower peak titers of fecal virus, earlier decline in virus titer, and shorter duration of excretion.