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Work-related illnesses and injuries include any illness or injury incurred by an employee engaged in work-related activities while on or off the worksite.
Why It's Important
Although work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities are preventable, they continue to be a significant public health issue. Workers may develop respiratory illnesses, musculoskeletal disorders, or suffer from eye injuries or amputations. Work environments have a major impact on health because so much time is spent at work. Work is recognized as a social determinant of health and can impact different aspects of our lives, such as income, access to health care, economic security, and housing, all of which can affect health.
Who's At Risk
More than four million individuals work in New Jersey and are at risk of becoming injured or ill while working. Over 90 percent of fatal occupational injuries in New Jersey are among men because they are more likely to work in high-risk occupations. Hispanics are at higher risk of occupational injury and illness due to disproportionate employment in higher risk occupations, higher proportionate work in hazardous industries, and language and cultural barriers which may result in lack of training and sometimes a lack of personal protective equipment or being unaware of safety regulations.
How to Reduce Risk
Occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities are largely preventable through efforts such as occupational health surveillance, enforcement, outreach, training, and education. Making a workplace safer and healthier starts with having data available to identify work-related injuries and illnesses and to identify industries and occupations at greatest risk to help establish prevention priorities. Interventions tailored to certain industries - like efforts to prevent falls in the construction industry - can help reduce work-related injuries and deaths. Because people spend so much time working, their work environment has a major impact on their health, and data can help assess the occupational health needs in the state.
How It's Tracked
The New Jersey Department of Health's Occupational Health Surveillance Unit
uses multiple data sources to track workplace injuries and illnesses, develop intervention strategies, and provide workers and employers with practical solutions to reduce hazards in New Jersey workplaces.
Official Site of The State of New Jersey
