A new report from the NH Occupational Health Surveillance Program (OHSP) called, Occupational Injury and Illness in New Hampshire, explores New Hampshire’s work-related health factors such as illness, injuries, exposures, hazards, or interventions. This report marks an important step on the path to a safer and healthier work environment for New Hampshire workers.
Some of the major findings from the report include:
- New Hampshire’s workforce is aging and more likely to be working 40 hours or more per week. In fact, workers age 65+ make up a larger proportion of the workforce, nearly doubling in size from 3.9% in 2008 of all workers to 7.7% in 2018.
- In 2018, one in twenty NH workers were employed in industries at high risk for morbidity. One in seven are employed in high-risk occupations for morbidity.
- There were over 1,735 work-related hospitalizations for persons age 16 years and older where the expected payer is workers’ compensation.
- From 2000 to 2018 there were 264 work-related fatalities in NH, with 20 occurring in 2018.
The data contained in this report will improve NH OHSP’s ability to characterize risks associated with preventable occupational injuries and illnesses. In turn, helping shape New Hampshire's prevention strategies and response to hazards and health conditions affecting the state's workforce.
"This is an important contribution to reducing NH's occupational health injuries, illnesses, and conditions," explains Dr. Karla Armenti, Director of NH OHSP. "We will continue to work with our partners to use the occupational health indicators to investigate the demographic and occupational characteristics of vulnerable and hard to reach populations."
Helpful Links
- Download Report: Occupational Injury and Illness in New Hampshire
- Download Report Highlights (PDF)
- Download Report Infographic (JPEG)
The New Hampshire Occupational Health Surveillance Project provides meaningful statistics to identify priority occupational safety and health issues in the state. This includes reports on a variety of core occupational health indicators based on measures of health (work-related disease, injury, or disability) or factors associated with health, such as workplace exposures, hazards, or interventions. It is a project at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire.
For more information visit nhohsp.unh.edu.
