Work-related injuries of the hand: data from an occupational injury/illness surveillance system.

Administrative and clinical data from a network of occupational medicine clinics were combined to evaluate the utility of these data in the surveillance of non-fatal occupational injuries. Incident cases of work-related hand injuries were characterized to evaluate that process. In 1988, hand and finger injuries were found to be among the most common (n = 4,120) of all occupational injuries recorded in the system. Hand/finger injuries accounted for 30.0 percent of all episodes of work-related injuries treated, with the incidence of these decreasing with increasing company size. Hand injuries were found to be potentially severe with nearly 20 percent resulting from a crushing motion and nearly 10 percent being fractures or amputations. Hands being caught in machines or struck by metal items or hand tools accounted for 36.2 percent of the injuries. A surveillance system based upon ambulatory care data can be a feasible method for identifying priority areas for the prevention of work-related injuries.