Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance Expanded Program: KOSHS

Kentucky (Ky) ranks as the 14th-worst state for fatal occupational injury rates, and 7th-worst for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses. The overall Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance (KOSHS) expanded program (KOSHS fundamental, Occupational Health Indicator [OHI], and Fatality Assessment Control and Evaluation [FACE] programs) focuses on population-based and case-based surveillance of work-related injuries and illnesses in Ky, a southeastern HHS Region 4 state. The specific aims are to perform population-based occupational injury and illness surveillance using 21 national OHI, 6 Ky-specific OHI, FACE, and other surveillance data (including surveillance data quality improvement and evaluation of new data sources); perform case-based occupational injury and illness surveillance through FACE on-site investigations and follow-up investigations of adults with high blood lead levels; conduct epidemiological analyses of occupational injury and illness surveillance and investigation data; establish and maintain partnerships and collaborations that integrate KOSHS results with partners’ intervention, and outreach activities; participate in the KOSHS advisory committee and attend semiannual grantee meetings; disseminate occupational injury and illness data and research results through annual reports, OHI data submission to NIOSH, newsletters, website postings, NIOSH State-based Occupational Health Clearinghouse, presentations, trade journals, peer-reviewed publications, NIOSH/CDC alerts, MMWR, Workplace Solutions, and social media; and perform a process, impact, and outcome evaluation of the overall KOSHS expanded program. Novel industries and occupations targeted in the KOSHS application include highway incident management and truck transportation injury epidemiology studies, fatality investigations, online truck driver safety training modules, and towing, and truck driver tool kits. The KOSHS will also have an innovative emphasis on traumatic injuries and emergency response including work-related traumatic injury, TBI, and concussion OHIs, Advanced statistical methodologies such as probabilistic data linkage and multiple imputations will be used, and surveillance data quality improvement studies will be performed. Innovative integration of the KOSHS program with NIOSH TWHTM, Safe Communities, CDC-funded Violence and Injury Prevention Program, and National Safety Council is planned.