SHARP's Year in Review ? 2023

In 2023, SHARP continued to innovate and develop knowledge to improve the safety and health of Washington workers. As we move in to 2024, we are sending this email to share some highlights of SHARP?s research and collaborations from the past year.

New Work Equity Research Center

Workers from marginalized communities often face increased risk of injury and illness from work-related hazards. In 2023, the new Work Equity Research Center (WERC) at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) was established to better understand and address occupational safety and health disparities.

WERC?s purpose will be to partner with communities to develop collaborative research projects and solutions to improve outcomes for underserved workers. SHARP senior researcher Dr. Caroline Smith will serve as WERC?s inaugural director.

Heat-Related Illness Tracking and Research

Hot weather and heat within the body during physical work can lead to heat-related illnesses (HRIs) such as heat stroke, which can be deadly. The risk of HRI is expected to rise as climate change results in more workers exposed to dangerous heat on the job. In addition, heat exposure at work can increase the risk for traumatic injuries, such as falls from ladders, and other adverse outcomes, such as kidney injury.

SHARP conducts research on patterns and disparities in health effects of workplace heat exposure. SHARP?s Dr. June Spector led an effort to link weather data and workers? compensation claim information to study HRI in workers exposed to sudden increases in heat. New resources for workers and employers along with Spanish/English data summaries of worker HRI trends in Washington are now available online.

Preventing Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are painful conditions that often develop over time and can affect many parts of the body, including joints, muscles, and nerves. WMSDs are the leading type of occupational injury in Washington State, accounting for around one-third of workers? compensation claims that result in lost work time or wage replacement.

In 2023, the Washington State legislature passed a bill that allows L&I to develop new rules for certain high-risk industries and workers to prevent WMSDs, reversing a past prohibition on such regulation.

SHARP researchers have decades of experience tracking WMSDs and studying how to prevent them. Initially, SHARP?s Dr. Jennifer Marcum, Darrin Adams, and Luke Sampson will be assisting L&I?s Division of Occupational Safety and Health in using data to identify and prioritize industries and risk classes eligible for these new safety rules.

Janitorial Workload Study Progress

Janitorial work is a low-wage, physically demanding job, and exposes workers to injury. In 2018, the Washington State Legislature tasked SHARP with designing and conducting new research to address the high rate of work-related injury among janitors, and this work continued in 2023.

Over the past five years, the Washington State Janitorial Workload Study has taken a multi-disciplinary approach to researching the risks and vulnerabilities faced by janitors. A statewide survey found that janitors often face poor working conditions, women are at higher risk of injury, and janitors often do not file workers? compensation claims when they are injured.

SHARP research ergonomists, Dr. Stephen Bao, Dr. Jia-Hua Lin, and Ninica Howard, have developed an innovative workload calculator tool, which is now in a testing phase. This tool will help employers design jobs in ways that address workload issues and reduce the risk of WMSDs.

SHARP has published free safety tip sheets for workers and employers in multiple languages, including a recent release on needle stick injuries. In 2023, SHARP epidemiologist Naomi Anderson began leading the Janitorial Workload Study.

Improved Work Information in Public Health Data Sources

Work can be a key factor in disease transmission and susceptibility. However, routine collection of work-related data such as employment status, occupation, and industry is largely absent from public health investigations. SHARP?s Dr. Sara Wuellner recently found incomplete and inadequate industry and occupation data collected for select notifiable conditions in Washington State.

To address this issue, SHARP collaborated with the Washington State Department of Health?s Office of Communicable Disease Epidemiology to develop an interactive online training for use by disease investigators at local and tribal public health offices to aid in the collection of occupation and industry information. When work-related data is available, disease trends are better understood and policies and prevention measures are improved.

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