Understanding occupational safety and health surveillance: expert consensus on components, attributes and example measures for an evaluation framework

Understanding Stakeholder Dissemination Preferences for an Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing Injury Surveillance System

Researchers and epidemiologists are working to improve the capture of agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AgFF) injuries in a variety of ways. A critical component of any surveillance system is the dissemination of information. The purpose of this paper is to report on a survey conducted with AgFF injury surveillance stakeholders to understand preferred dissemination strategies. The survey was distributed using REDCap via web link to organizational stakeholders, which included advisory board members, safety trainers, industry managers and workers, and research collaborators. In total, there were 75 respondents (21% response rate). Occupation and industry influenced preference in update methods. Regarding the length and breadth of updates, 63% of respondents prefer reports (one to five pages), followed by 57% desiring a summary (less than one page), while only 24% wanted a detailed analysis. Social media and news preferences were also different among stakeholders. Surveillance data were desired for 1) trend analysis, 2) tailoring activities and solutions for education, training, outreach and interventions and 3) for research purposes such as grant proposals and evaluation. The dissemination of injury surveillance data should be tailored to the intended audience. Greater attention needs to be paid to the ways in which we share our findings.

Counting Farm Injuries and Fatalities: An Assessment of Irish Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance Data Systems

OBJECTIVE

Generation of reliable data underpins the effectiveness of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) surveillance systems. Despite the importance of understanding OHS data systems, there are few papers that provide overviews of their structure and/or content. This paper introduces a basic framework for assessing OHS data systems that will be of use to researchers internationally. We applied this approach to assess the Irish OHS data system by undertaking a data mapping exercise.

METHOD

We developed a checklist based on recommendations of monitoring and measurement of OHS proposed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (USA). An assessment of published reports that present systematic OHS surveillance data was undertaken to identify the institutions or organisations responsible for collecting and curating the data, their remit, and, associated with this, their respective case definitions. We then provide an overview of the variables collected and these are then mapped against the checklist.

RESULTS

The assessment highlights that whilst the farm fatalities dataset provides complete coverage of all fatalities, regardless of age or employment status, the same is not true of the three non-fatal injuries datasets reviewed. There are important differences in the data collection methods and, associated with this, which populations are covered.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

The assessment approach provides valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of a critical element of OHS surveillance systems, namely the production of datasets. This knowledge is important for researchers as understanding the data that informs their research is fundamental to good science. It is critical for policy-makers and other stakeholders to understand the strengths and weaknesses on which OHS policy, strategies, or education and training interventions are developed.