AN OCCUPATIONAL INJURY MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER AT HOUSTON

The purpose of this research and development project was to develop a method, a design, and a prototype for gathering, managing, and presenting data about occupational injuries.^ State-of-the-art systems analysis and design methodologies were applied to the long standing problem in the field of occupational safety and health of processing workplace injuries data into information for safety and health program management as well as preliminary research about accident etiologies. The top-down planning and bottom-up implementation approach was utilized to design an occupational injury management information system. A description of a managerial control system and a comprehensive system to integrate safety and health program management was provided.^ The project showed that current management information systems (MIS) theory and methods could be applied successfully to the problems of employee injury surveillance and control program performance evaluation. The model developed in the first section was applied at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSCH).^ The system in current use at the UTHSCH was described and evaluated, and a prototype was developed for the UTHSCH. The prototype incorporated procedures for collecting, storing, and retrieving records of injuries and the procedures necessary to prepare reports, analyses, and graphics for management in the Health Science Center. Examples of reports, analyses, and graphics presenting UTHSCH and computer generated data were included.^ It was concluded that a pilot test of this MIS should be implemented and evaluated at the UTHSCH and other settings. Further research and development efforts for the total safety and health management information systems, control systems, component systems, and variable selection should be pursued. Finally, integration of the safety and health program MIS into the comprehensive or executive MIS was recommended. ^

Using the results of routine laboratory workplace surveillance activities to assess compliance with recommended biosafety guidelines

The biological safety profession has historically functioned within an environment based on recommended practices rather than regulations, so summary data on compliance or noncompliance with recommended practices is largely absent from the professional literature. The absence of safety performance outcome data is unfortunate since the concept of biosafety containment is based on a combination of facility based controls and workplace practices, and persistent failures in either type of controls could ultimately result in injury or death. In addition, the number of laboratories requiring biosafety containment is likely to grow significantly in the coming years in the wake of the terrorist events of 2001. In this study, the outcomes of 768 biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) safety surveys were analyzed for commonalities and trends. Items of non-compliance noted were classified as facility related or practice related. The most frequent item of noncompliance encountered was the failure to re-certify biosafety cabinetry. Not surprisingly, the preponderance of the other frequent items of non-compliance encountered were practice related, such as general housekeeping orderly, changes in compliance levels, as well as establish trends in the elements of items of non-compliance during the sequential survey period. The findings described in this study are significant because, for the first time, the outcomes of compliance with recommended biosafety practices can be characterized and thus used as the basis for focused interventions. Since biosafety is heavily reliant on adherence to specific safety practices, the ability to focus interventions on objectively identified practice-related items of non-compliance can assist in the reduction of worker risk in this area experiencing tremendous growth. The information described is also of heighten importance given the number of workplaces expected to involve potentially infectious agents in the coming years. ^

Process evaluation of the Texas occupational safety & health surveillance system

Introduction: The Texas Occupational Safety & Health Surveillance System (TOSHSS) was created to collect, analyze and interpret occupational injury and illness data in order to decrease the impact of occupational injuries within the state of Texas. This process evaluation was performed midway through the 4-year grant to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the surveillance system’s planning and implementation activities1. ^ Methods: Two evaluation guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were used as the theoretical models for this process evaluation. The Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health was used to examine the planning and design of TOSHSS using logic models. The Framework for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems was used to examine the implementation of approximately 60 surveillance activities, including uses of the data obtained from the surveillance system. ^ Results/Discussion: TOSHSS planning activities omitted the creation of a scientific advisory committee and specific activities designed to maintain contacts with stakeholders; and proposed activities should be reassessed and aligned with ongoing performance measurement criteria, including the role of collaborators in helping the surveillance system achieve each proposed activity. TOSHSS implementation activities are substantially meeting expectations and received an overall score of 61% for all activities being performed. TOSHSS is considered a surveillance system that is simple, flexible, acceptable, fairly stable, timely, moderately useful, with good data quality and a PVP of 86%. ^ Conclusions: Through the third year of TOSHSS implementation, the surveillance system is has made a considerable contribution to the collection of occupational injury and illness information within the state of Texas. Implementation of the nine recommendations provided under this process evaluation is expected to increase the overall usefulness of the surveillance system and assist TDSHS in reducing occupational fatalities, injuries, and diseases within the state of Texas. ^ 1 Disclaimer: The Texas Occupational Safety and Health Surveillance System is supported by Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number (U60 OH008473-01A1). The content of the current evaluation are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.^