The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has announced the formation of the NIOSH Center for Workers’ Compensation Studies (CWCS) that will coordinate data in an effort to reduce the burdens of work-related injuries and illness on workers, their families and communities and the economy.

(One 2011 study estimates costs associated with work related injuries and illnesses in the U.S. at $250 billion annually.)

“At NIOSH it is our mission to identify, define, and apply ways to reduce these burdens and impacts,” according to a statement issued by the institute. “One way in which we do this is by conducting surveillance and research using rich sets of data. Workers' compensation systems are one such source of data.”

The CWCS was created to organize workers’ compensation data that are already being analyzed by NIOSH researchers in existing programs, such as the Economics Program, Surveillance Program, and the Center for Motor Vehicle Safety.

“This is important because coordinated workers’ compensation research has been conducted mostly at large commercial insurers, state-based insurers, or organizations such as the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which cannot always widely distribute their research findings,” according to NIOSH.

Analyses will be conducted across a wide range of industry sectors, including:

• Construction
• Healthcare and social assistance
• Manufacturing
• Public safety
• Services
• Mining
• Transportation
• Warehousing
• Wholesale and retail trade

NIOSH says the mission of the CWCS is to use workers’ compensation data to prevent and reduce the severity of workplace injuries and illnesses.

Click here for information about CWCS.