Epidemiology of work-related burn injuries in Massachusetts requiring hospitalization

Abstract

To describe the epidemiology of hospitalized, work-related burns among Massachusetts residents aged 16 years or older, 825 Massachusetts residents who were burned between 1 July 1978 and 30 June 1979, and who were treated as hospital inpatients in any of 240 New England hospitals, were studied. Two hundred forty (29%) of the 825 identified burns were known to be work-related. Our findings suggest that the workplace is a major contributor to hospitalized burn injury among employed males, accounting for 60% of their burns. Young workers and black workers experienced the highest rates of burning, with rates two and four times higher than their older and white counterparts, respectively. Scalds were the most common type of work-related burn injury for individuals in each age category, accounting for 45% of the burns overall.