Occupational injury mortality: New Mexico 1998-2002.

BACKGROUND The current study characterizes patterns of occupational injury fatalities in New Mexico for the 5-year period 1998-2002. METHODS The study applied methods developed by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (CSTE/NIOSH) Occupational Health Indicator Work Group and compared the relative strength and weakness of two different datasets (CFOI and NMVRHS) for occupational injury fatality surveillance. RESULTS Annual occupational injury mortality rates ranged from 4.4 to 7.6 per 100,000 employed persons aged 16 and over compared to annual US rates of 4.0-4.6 per 100,000. Risk factors for higher mortality rates included age over 65 years, self-employment, non-US citizenship, being African-American or Hispanic, and occurrence in rural counties. The top industry for fatality rate was mining followed by transportation, public utilities, agriculture, and construction. CONCLUSIONS Applying CSTE/NIOSH Occupational Health Indicator protocol and using both CFOI and NMVRHS data improved the characterization of occupational injury mortality and the setting of priorities for prevention intervention.