Use of a National Hospitalization Register to identify industrial sectors carrying high risk of severe injuries: A three-year cohort study of more than 900,000 Danish men

BACKGROUND: Data indicates that Denmark has relatively high risks of occupational injuries. We evaluated all injuries resulting in hospitalization by occupation. METHODS: All gainfully employed men younger than 60 in 1990 were divided into 47 industrial groups and followed using the National Inpatient Registry, for hospitalized injuries 1991-1993. Following ICD-8, injuries were grouped into six categories: head, upper extremities, back, trunk, lower extremities and ruptures, sprains and strains. Standardized industrial hospitalization ratios (SHRs) were calculated and Pearson's independence test was performed for each category. RESULTS: Industrial differences were ascertained for each injury category. The highest associated injury category was upper extremity injuries ranging from SHR = 43 (fire services and salvage corps) to SHR = 209 (slaughterhouse industry). Carpentry, joinery, bricklaying and construction work had significantly high SHRs for all injury categories, whereas administrative work was significantly low throughout. CONCLUSIONS: Occupational surveillance systems based on hospitalized injuries can be used to identify high-risk industries, and thereby suggest where to direct prevention efforts.