Injury epidemiology involves characterization of injury occurrence, identification of risk factors, and the evaluation of injury prevention programs. Injury is defined as damage in human tissue resulting from exposure to energy delivered in excess of the threshold that human biological systems can tolerate. This excess transfer can occur during exposure to various forms of energy including mechanical, chemical, electrical, and ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Injury epidemiology is applied in various environments such as the workplace, home, transportation, and sports and recreational settings. Injury research has led to the development of numerous interventions (e.g. seatbelts, helmet use, ergonomic designs, workplace safety programs, automobile safety design, and transportation regulations) that have achieved significant public health improvements. Although injuries are often described “accidents” or other terms that implies a random nature or unavoidability, in fact most injuries show clear non-random patterns and have identifiable risk factors.
Exponent’s epidemiologists and biostatisticians can team with staff having expertise in ergonomics, human factors, industrial engineering, and health and safety programming to bring together unparalleled expertise in the identification, evaluation, and prevention of injuries. Our staff has worked on numerous projects in the area of:
- Workplace injuries
- Traffic safety research
- Sports-related injuries
- Ergonomic evaluations
- Occupational health and safety
- Product safety evaluation
We have designed and constructed workplace injury surveillance systems, analyzed trends in workplace injuries, evaluated occupational injury, illness, and fatality data from OSHA and the BLS databases. In addition, we have analyzed data from numerous traffic safety surveillance databases (e.g. FARS, NASS GES, NASS CDS and state motor vehicle crash databases) to assess vehicle safety, effectiveness of daytime running light use, and other factors influencing automotive crash risks.
As part of these injury analysis projects, our epidemiologists and statisticians have used a variety of study designs to identify injury risk factors, to evaluate the impacts of injury prevention programs, or to assess the effectiveness of safety regulations.
Injuries remain a significant public health concern affecting a wide variety of risk groups (e.g. elderly, youth, workers, pedestrians) for whom continual focus on research and prevention will yield important health benefits. The Exponent team brings experienced staff, innovative approaches and analysis expertise to address the public health challenge.
Recent Publications:
Fordyce TA, Kelsh MA, Lu E, Sahl JD, Yager JW. Thermal burn and electric shock injuries among electric utility workers, 1995–2004. Burns 2007; 33(2):209–20.
Kelsh MA, Lu ET, Ramachandran K, Jesser C, Fordyce T, Yager JW. Occupational injury surveillance among electric utility employees. J Occup Environ Med. 2004; 46(9):974–984.
Yager JW, Kelsh MA, Zhao K, Mrad RJ. Development of an occupational illness and injury surveillance database for the electric energy sector. Appl Occup Environ Hyg 2001; 16(2):291–294.
Kelsh MA, Sahl JD. Sex differences in work–related injury rates among electric utility workers. Amer J Epidemiol 1996; 143:1050–1058.
Fordyce TA, Van Selow W, Resnick HT. Crashes accompanied by fire: What do the accident data tell us? SAE World Congress, SAE 2006 Transactions Journal of Passenger Cars: Mechanical Systems, pp. 710–720, 2007.
Ramachandran K, Fordyce TA, Ray R, Resnick HT. The relationship between airbags and injuries. SAE World Congress, SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-1231, Detroit, MI., 2005.
Eby DW, Molnar LJ, Shope JT, Vivoda, JM, Fordyce, TA. Improving older driver knowledge and awareness through self-assessment: The driving decisions workbook. Journal of Safety Research 2003; 34(4):371–381.
Eby DW, Fordyce TA, Vivoda JM. A comparison of safety belt use in commercial and noncommercial vehicles. Accident Analysis and Prevention 2002; 34:285–291.
Eby DW, Vivoda JM, Fordyce TA. The effects of standard enforcement on Michigan safety belt use. Accident Analysis and Prevention 200; 34:101–109.
Lau E, Ray R, Parenteau CS. Characteristics of children in rollover collisions. Proceedings, 43rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM) and IRCOBI, Barcelona, September 22, 1999.
Ray R, Lau E, Cheng LY. Deployment of airbags in traffic accidents: Characteristics and consequence. Proceedings, 41st Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM), Orlando, FL, November 10–12, 1997.
Donelson AC, Kelkar R, Lau E. Alcohol, boating accidents, and the interpretation of BAC. Proceedings,14th Conference on Alcohol, Drug, and Traffic Safety, Lyon, France, 1997.
Padamanban J, Lau E. Accident experience of passenger vehicles with four-wheel antilock braking systems. Proceedings, 40th Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM), Vancouver, Canada, October 1996.
Ayres TJ, Lau EC, Schmidt RA, Young DE. Operator experience and accident risk. Proceedings, 40th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomic Society, pp. 94–95, Philadelphia, PA, September 2–6, 1996.