Work-related hospitalizations in Massachusetts: racial/ethnic differences

In Massachusetts, as in the United States as a whole, the fatal occupational injury rate for Hispanic workers (3.3 per 100,000 workers per year) is higher than that for white workers (2.2 per 100,000 workers per year).1 Although some information about the risk of nonfatal occupational injuries among racial and ethnic groups is available nationally,2 data for Massachusetts are limited. The workers’ compensation data set maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents does not include information about workers’ race and ethnicity. By contrast, race and ethnicity information is a data element in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses,3 but it is only an optional feature there, and it is missing from more than 25 percent of the cases reported in the Massachusetts BLS survey.4 This article reports on the use of statewide hospital discharge data to describe patterns of serious occupational injuries (that is, injuries requiring hospitalization) among racial and ethnic groups in Massachusetts.