An Examination of Workers Compensation Claims Data for the Colorado Oil and Gas Industry

Transcription

1 An Examination of Workers Compensation Claims Data for the Colorado Oil and Gas Industry MARGARET COOK- SHIMANEK, MD, MPH THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAM WESTERN STATES OCCUPATIONAL NETWORK SYMPOSIUM JUNE 26, 2015

2 Funding: CDC/NIOSH Grant T32 OH Mountain and Plains Education Research Center Protocol #15-040: Deemed Not Human Subjects Research by the Colorado Multiple Institution Review Board

3 Outline Introduction Goal Methods Results Conclusions Discussion Photo credit:

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5 Occupational Context Growing interest in understanding occupational hazards encountered in the Colorado oil and gas industry An associated need to characterize injury to inform and direct prevention efforts In the absence of an active, state-level injury surveillance system, we need to explore novel ways of monitoring injury trends and progress after workplace hazard reduction

6 Oil & Gas Fatality and Injury Rates, 2003 to 2013 National fatality rate for oil and gas was 1.7 times higher than construction 1 National recordable nonfatal occupational injury rates in oil and gas were 1.5 to 2 times lower than construction 2

7 Goal Provide a ten year overview of non-fatal workers compensation lost-time claims for the Colorado oil and gas industry Photo credit:

8 Photo credit: Methods

9 Methods Data source: Colorado Division of Labor and Employment (CDLE) lost-time claims, 2003 to 2012 CDLE does not collect medical only claims Records include: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes Oil & Gas: Extraction (211111), Drilling (213111), and Support Activities (213112) Construction: Buildings (236), Heavy & Civil Engineering (237), and Specialty Trade (238) All non-fatal, admitted, denied, and indeterminate claims Analysis: SAS 9.4 for descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis

10 Results

11 Results, 2003 to 2012 Number of lost-time claims by industry Oil & gas: 1,433 claims (n=168,111) Construction: 23,178 claims (n=1,432,741) Status of claims by industry Oil & gas: 79.9% accepted Construction: 84.1% accepted

12 Claimant Demographics Claimant Age Group by Industry, 2003 to 2012 > 65 YEARS Female Male YEARS Oil & Gas (n=1,433) 3.3% 96.7% YEARS YEARS Construction (n=23,178) 4.8% 95.2% YEARS YEARS 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% Construction Industry (n=23,178) Oil & Gas Industry (n=1,433)

13 Floorhand Claims, specifically n=245 (18.7% of 1,311) Cause Nature Body part Falling or flying objects = 22 (9.1%) Lifting = 19 (7.9%) Object handled = 19 (7.9%) Strain = 15 (6.2%) Fall from a different level = 13 (5.4%) Strain or sprain = 72 (29.4%) Fracture = 45 (18.4%) Contusion = 36 (14.7%) Finger = 33 (13.5%) Low back = 29 (11.8%) Shoulder = 21 (8.6%)

14 Characteristics of Injury

15 Injured Body Part Category by Industry, 2003 to 2012 Missing Multiple body parts Non-classifiable Hips & lower extremities Trunk, pelvis, buttocks Upper extremity Neck Head, face, soft tissue, NOC 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% Construction Oil and Gas

16 Body Part by Nature of Injury, Oil & Gas (n=1,433) Head, face, soft tissue = 98 (6.8%) Contusion = 19 (19.4%) Fracture = 18 (18.4%) Burn = 18 (18.4%) Laceration = 12 (12.2%) Foreign body = 10 (10.2%) 1. Low back = 189 (13.2%) Strain/sprain = 153 (81.0%) Contusion = 9 (4.8%) Fracture = 6 (3.2%) 4. Knee = 125 (8.7%) Strain/sprain = 75 (60.0 %) Contusion = 19 (15.2%) Dislocation = 5 (4.0%) 2. Shoulder = 147 (10.3%) Strain/sprain = 72 (49.0%) Dislocation = 24 (16.3%) Contusion = 19 (12.9%) 3. Fingers = 139 (9.7%) Fracture = 36 (25.9%) Contusion/crushing = 42 (30.2%) Laceration = 26 (18.7%) Amputation = 23 (16.6%) 5. Multiple body parts = 121 (8.4%) Strain/sprain = 26 (21.5%) Burn = 17 (14.1%) Contusion = 10 (8.3%) Graphic credit:

17 Body Part Injured by NAICS Subsector, 2003 to 2012 Proportion of Body Part Injured Sum of three major categories: Extraction: 73.5% Drilling: 82.5% Support Activities: 79.8% 5 0 Head, face, soft tissue, NOC Neck Upper Extremity Trunk, pelvis buttocks Hips & lower extremities Non-classifiable Multiple body parts Missing Body Part Category Oil and Gas Extraction Oil and Gas Drilling Support Activities for Oil and Gas

18 Overall Nature of Injury in Oil & Gas, 2003 to 2012 All other 18% (n=261) Strain or sprain 34% (n=483) Dislocation 3% (n=43) Amputations 2% (n=28) Multiple physical injuries 2% (n=28) Burn 3% (n=49) O&G with higher proportion of: Fractures Burns Multiple physical injuries Amputations Fracture 14% (n=198) Laceration or puncture 5% (n=74) Contusion or crushing 15% (n=210)

19 Nature of Injury by NAICS Subsector, 2003 to Proportion of Injury Nature Extraction with a higher proportion of laceration or puncture, burn, & all other cumulative trauma Drilling with a higher proportion of amputation, hernia, & dislocation Support activities with a higher proportion of strain or sprain 5 0 Strain or sprain Contusion or crushing Laceration or puncture Fracture Burn Multiple physical injuries Amputations Hernia Dislocation Inflammation All other cumulative trauma All other Nature of Injury Category Oil and Gas Extraction Oil and Gas Drilling Support Activities for Oil and Gas

20 Overall Cause of Injury in Oil & Gas, 2003 to 2012 Miscellaneous causes 12% (n=175) Burn or scald, heat or cold exposure 4% (n=62) Strain or injury by 29% (n=417) Caught in, under, between 9% (n=130) Motor vehicle 5% (n=65) Striking against or stepping on 3% (n=42) Cut, puncture, scrape 3% (n=35) Struck or injured by 17% (n=241) Fall, slip, trip injury 18% (n=264) O&G with higher proportion of: Struck/injured by MVA Caught in, under, between Burn or scald

21 Proportion of Injury Cause Cause of Injury by NAICS Subsector, 2003 to 2012 Extraction with a higher proportion of fall, slip, or trip injuries and motor vehicle-related injuries Drilling with a higher proportion of struck or injured by and caught in, under, between Support activities with a higher proportion of strain or injury by 5 0 Strain or injury by Fall, slip, or trip injury Struck or injured by Cut, puncture, scrape Striking against or stepping on Motor vehicle Caught in, under, between Cause of Injury Category Burn or scald, heat or cold exposure Rubbed or abraded by Miscellaneous causes Oil and Gas Extraction Oil and Gas Drilling Support Activities for Oil and Gas

22 Cause of Injury by Body Part, Oil and Gas (n=1,433) Lifting, n=144 (10.1%) Strain or injury by, n=97 (6.8%) Falling or flying object, n=82 (5.7%) Fall from a different level, n=69 (4.8%) Pushing or pulling, n=61 (4.3%) Low back = 58 (40.2%) Shoulder = 22 (15.3%) Hernia = 21 (14.6%) Low back = 29 (29.9%) Shoulder = 12 (12.4%) Knee = 13 (13.4%) Finger = 8 (9.8%) Multiple body parts = 7 (8.5%) Shoulder = 5 (6.1%) Lower arm and knee = 4 (4.9%) Toes, multiple lower extremities, thoracic & low back, upper leg, each with n=3 (3.7%) Low back = 9 (13.0%) Shoulder = 8 (11.6% Multiple body parts 8 (11.6%) Shoulder = 15 (24.6%) Low back = 14 (23.0%) Upper arm or hernia = 6 (9.8%)

23 Rate of lost-time claims by industry

24 Rate of Non-fatal, Lost-time Claims by Industry, Colorado 2003 to Rate of Lost-Time claims per 1,000 workers The claims rate trend in oil & gas is decreasing more rapidly than the trend for construction (p = ) At the 2012 nadir, the claims rate in oil & gas was 3.9 times lower than construction Year Oil and Gas Construction Professional and Technical Services

25 Rates of Non-fatal, Lost-time Claims by Industry Subsector, 2003 to Rate of lost-time claims per 1,000 workers Year Oil and Gas Extraction Drilling oil and gas wells Support Activities for Oil and Gas

26 Why was there such a steep decline in claims rates over the study period?

27 Shift of the recordable injury burden to other industries Evolution of the industry over time to use subcontractors These subcontractors may fall under other NAICS codes For example, construction (i.e. specialty trade contractors) or transportation (i.e. freight transport) Photo credit:

28 Injury underreporting Unintentional underreporting The average annual pay in Colorado for workers in oil and gas subsectors, 2003 to 2013 Support activities for oil and gas: $75,499 Drilling Oil and Gas Wells: $81,307 Oil & Gas Extraction: $143,357 Operators will likely select subcontractors with the best safety record to work at their jobsite Photo credit:

29 Other possible explanations for declining injury rates Workforce growth in the setting of steady injury numbers Retention of seasoned & potentially safer workers Tendency towards sub-specialization of high-risk tasks Theory of minor versus catastrophic injuries in this industry Effect of pre-employment worker screening

30 Summary Oil & gas non-fatal injury rates are significantly decreasing despite persistently high fatality rates Strains, sprains, contusions, crushing, and fractures are common types of injury Injuries often involve the low back, upper and lower extremities Injury of multiple body parts is common Strain, struck or injured by, and falls are important causes of injury

31 Limitations Dataset does not include medical only claims Data rely on employer- or worker- reported characteristics of injury Limited capture using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Concerns for potential injury underreporting or self-pay for medical care What about illness?

32 Implications for Practice & Next Steps Clinical considerations Become familiar with industry injuries and exposures of concern Inquire about workplace hazard assessment, risk communication procedures, and prevention efforts Carefully consider work-relatedness of symptoms and illness temporally associated with exposures Research considerations Investigate the addition of other industry codes that reflect oil and gas occupational activity 3 Work with other state workers compensation divisions to most efficiently direct future research efforts

33 Works Cited & Additional Resources 1 Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015). Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries - Current and Revised Data. fromhttp:// 2 Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015b). Industry Injury and Illness Data. In United States Department of Labor (Ed.) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. (2015). Fatalities in the Oil and Gas Extraction Industry (FOG). Workplace Safety and Health Topics. Retrieved March 25, 2015, fromhttp:// Images from Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. (2015). COGCC GIS Online. Retrieved March 16, 2015, from United States Census Bureau. (2014). North American Industry Classification System. Retrieved September, 2014, from

34 Acknowledgements: Roxana Witter, MD, MSPH Katherine James, PhD, MSPH, MSCE Kathryn Mueller, MD, MPH Barry Spindler, MBA Meredith Towle, MPH Questions?

35 Number of Employees by Colorado Industry, 2003 to 2012 Number of Oil & Gas Employees Year Number of Construction Employees Oil & Gas Construction

36 COLORADO EMPLOYEES BY OIL & GAS NAICS SUBSECTOR, 2003 TO Number of Employees Year Oil & Gas Extraction Drilling Oil & Gas Wells Support Activities for Oil & Gas