Neck injuries among electric utility workers, 1995-2007.

Objective: To describe the incidence and impact of neck injuries among electric utility workers.

Methods: Rates of neck injuries per 10,000 employee-years were calculated for various demographic and occupational factors using data from an injury surveillance database established among 17 electric utility companies over the period 1995-2007.

Results: The overall rate of neck injuries was 13.3. Male workers had a slightly higher rate than females, and younger workers (<30) had the highest neck injury rates. Trade/craft workers experienced the highest rates of neck injuries, whereas office-based experienced the lowest. The majority of neck injuries (69%) were sprain/strains and resulted in less than 1 lost day of work (76.7%).

Conclusions: The occurrence of neck injuries in the electric utility workforce varies widely with respect to age, sex, and occupational groups with different characteristics, activities, and work environments. Industry-wide surveillance allows easier identification of injury patterns and risk factors of various injury types and facilitates the development of targeted prevention and intervention strategies to reduce the occurrence of these injuries.