%0 Journal Article
%T Does the year-end decline in injury risk reflect reporting error?
%J American journal of industrial medicine
%D 2015
%A Pierce, Brooks
%V 58
%N 5
%P 519-527
%X BACKGROUND: Relatively little is known about seasonal patterns in occupational injury risk. Injury risk may vary seasonally due to weather-related factors or changing work exposure. Employer confusion about recordkeeping rules and injury occurrence near year end may also lead to an undercount of year-end injuries. <br><br>METHODS: Case records from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries were used to determine seasonality for a variety of injury types. <br><br>RESULTS: Reported injury rates were higher in summer and lower at year end. Difficult-to-identify injuries showed greater year-end incidence declines. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: End-of-year injury declines may have reflected reporting errors for some injury types. The summertime increase in injury risk was broad-based and presumably reflected real seasonal factors. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
%G en
%I John Wiley and Sons
%@ 0271-3586
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22440