Ambient temperature and injuries among Montana workers

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Category

STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)

Abstract/Artist Statement

Introduction: Several heat related risks increase the chance of injuries in workers. During a warmer season, workers may experience serious heat related illness as their internal body temperature is also affected by the high temperature outside. Heat related injuries and illness (such as heat exhaustion, heat stress, and heat stroke) can cause sudden death due to cardiac arrest or permanent body injuries. As a result of climate change, increasing opportunities for heat exposure may affect the working environments and risk of injury among workers.

Objective: To evaluate the connection between temperature on number of injuries in workers who claimed compensation due to workplace injuries using the worker compensation dataset from 2007 to 2022 in Montana.

Method: This research will be based on the worker compensation dataset from 2007 to 2022. Worker heat exposure will be assessed using the daily data from Gridded Surface Meteorological (gridMET) during the warm season. Specifically, we will use record of daily minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and average relative humidity of each Montana county during 2007 to 2022. We will employ a time-stratified case-crossover approach with conditional Poisson regression, comparing ambient temperature on the day of injury compared to ambient temperature on control days. Furthermore, we will assess whether the association between temperature and injuries of workers is linear or non-linear.

Originality: Previously, no study has explored the association between meteorological conditions, specifically temperature humidity, and frequency of injuries among Montana workers. Moreover, this study includes three workers group (firefighters, construction workers, and professional workers), allowing for assessment of how the associations vary according to general working conditional among these groups.

Significance: Understanding the risk of worker injury according to meteorological conditions will indicate the need for preventive measures than can be taken to minimize worker exposure to extreme heat conditions.

Mentor Name

Curtis W. Noonan

Personal Statement

The workers health is one of the crucial aspects to explore because they are more vulnerable to be injured. During the warmer season, temperature may increase the risks of injuries among the workers. Workers may become fatigued as a result of high temperature when they need to perform tasks, which could increase their risk of injury. As a result of cerebral impairment brought on by heat stress, which also includes reduced blood flow due to the high demand on the cardiovascular system (Sawka et al., 2011), workers may experience vision problem, which may increase their risk of being injured. Further study is needed to understand how heat exposure relates to occupational injuries among workers because the mechanisms and impact of heat exposure leading to traumatic injuries in workers are still needed to be understood clearly. Notably, with the high temperature in warmer season, several heat related risks increase the chance of injuries in workers. Heat exposure is thought to be the direct cause of some injuries such as heat cramps, and heat strokes etc. As a result of climate change, the working environments of workers who work directly or indirectly on fire (such as: wildland firefighters) become more unfavorable due to climatic circumstances and intense heat. Furthermore, the geography and climate of Montana are different than Most of the states of USA. Though the winter is longer here than most of the states in USA, the warmer months still consists of 5-6 months and sometime the temperature in warmer months become unbearable. Thus, it is important to investigate the impact of the temperature on the injuries of workers in Montana. In summary, workers remain vulnerable to injury and they often suffer from injuries in their work setting. They engage with high physical activities while performing their job. In the warm season, firefighters and construction workers need to perform their task where temperature is a concerning issue. However, there is no previous studies which explore the impact of temperature on their injuries in Montana. So, it is very important to understand this aspect. Thus, this research makes me an ideal candidate for the "Best of GradCon" award. I hope this research, and my communication strategy allow me to contribute more on the improvement of the health and reduce the health risks of the workers in Montana.

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Feb 24th, 10:20 AM Feb 24th, 10:35 AM

Ambient temperature and injuries among Montana workers

UC 332

Introduction: Several heat related risks increase the chance of injuries in workers. During a warmer season, workers may experience serious heat related illness as their internal body temperature is also affected by the high temperature outside. Heat related injuries and illness (such as heat exhaustion, heat stress, and heat stroke) can cause sudden death due to cardiac arrest or permanent body injuries. As a result of climate change, increasing opportunities for heat exposure may affect the working environments and risk of injury among workers.

Objective: To evaluate the connection between temperature on number of injuries in workers who claimed compensation due to workplace injuries using the worker compensation dataset from 2007 to 2022 in Montana.

Method: This research will be based on the worker compensation dataset from 2007 to 2022. Worker heat exposure will be assessed using the daily data from Gridded Surface Meteorological (gridMET) during the warm season. Specifically, we will use record of daily minimum temperature, maximum temperature, and average relative humidity of each Montana county during 2007 to 2022. We will employ a time-stratified case-crossover approach with conditional Poisson regression, comparing ambient temperature on the day of injury compared to ambient temperature on control days. Furthermore, we will assess whether the association between temperature and injuries of workers is linear or non-linear.

Originality: Previously, no study has explored the association between meteorological conditions, specifically temperature humidity, and frequency of injuries among Montana workers. Moreover, this study includes three workers group (firefighters, construction workers, and professional workers), allowing for assessment of how the associations vary according to general working conditional among these groups.

Significance: Understanding the risk of worker injury according to meteorological conditions will indicate the need for preventive measures than can be taken to minimize worker exposure to extreme heat conditions.