Occupational Health Surveillance

The goal of the Occupational Health Surveillance Program is to promote the health, safety and quality of life of people working in Louisiana. Program activities include the following:

• Collect, analyze, interpret and disseminate information about work-related injuries, illnesses, and hazards in Louisiana.
• Educate workers, employers, and health care providers about occupational health and safety issues.
• Use surveillance information to guide the development of prevention and outreach activities.

Occupational Health Activities:

Tracking occupational health indicators

Through a CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreement, the program routinely tracks 20 occupational health indicators. The indicators define a specific measure of health or risk status (i.e., the occurrence of a health event or factors associated with that event) among a specified population. These surveillance indicators allow a state to compare its health or risk status with that of other states and evaluate trends over time within the state, and guide priorities for prevention and intervention efforts.

The indicators include:

• Employment demographics
• Non-fatal and fatal work-related injuries and illnesses
• Work-related hospitalizations, including burns and low back pain
• Pneumoconiosis and asbestosis hospitalizations and deaths
• Mesothelioma
• Elevated blood lead levels among adults
• Acute work-related pesticide poisonings
• Occupations and industries at high risk for occupational mortality and morbidity.

Click here for a report summarizing Louisiana's occupational health indicators

Pesticide Poisoning

Pesticide poisoning is a reportable condition in Louisiana. Reports of pesticide poisoning are investigated and tracked.

Click here to report a case of pesticide poisoning or to visit the Pesticide Surveillance Program's webpage.

Heavy Metal & Carbon Monoxide Exposure

Arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and carbon monoxide are reportable conditions in Louisiana.

Click here to report a case of heavy metal or carbon monoxide exposure or to visit the Heavy Metal & Carbon Monoxide Surveillance webpage. Included on the webpage are links to guidance documents on heavy metal exposure that discuss occupational and non-occupational exposure sources, toxicity and susceptible populations, OSHA medical monitoring guidelines and test result standards (OSHA, ACGIH and CDC).

Work-related Asbestos Exposure

Click here for a factsheet about work-related asbestos exposure and which agencies to contact for more specific information.

If you have an occupational issue to report or want more information about the program, send an email to oph.seetweb@la.gov.

Links

• Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologist (CSTE) Occupational Program
• Louisiana's Indoor Air Program
• NIOSH
• OSHA

Factsheets

• Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths in Louisiana by Industry & Occupation Report Summary
• Opioid Deaths Among Louisiana Workers

Reports / Publications / Presentations

Reports

• Fatalities in the Construction Industry - Louisiana, 2007 - 2011, 2013
• Indicators of Climate Change in Louisiana, 2016
• Louisiana Service Worker Wellness Report, 2016
• Occupational Health Brief: Low Back Pain Disorders in Louisiana Workers, 2011
• Occupational Health in Louisiana: Review of Indicator Data, 2015
• Occupational Health in Louisiana: Review of Indicator Data, 2016
• Occupational Health in Louisiana: Review of Indicator Data, 2017
• Opioid-related Overdose Deaths in Louisiana by Industry and Occupation, 2014 - 2019
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators, 2005
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators, 2011
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators, 2019
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators , 2020
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators , 2021
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators , 2023
• Report on Louisiana's Occupational Health Indicators , 2024
• Workers’ Compensation COVID-19 2020 Claims Short Summary
• Work-Related Hospitalizations in Louisiana: A Review of Louisiana Hospital Inpatient Discharge Data for 10 Years (1998-2007), 2008
• Work-Related Motor Vehicle Fatalities in Louisiana (2009-2018) , 2019

Publications

• Assessing COVID-19 Deaths by Occupation and Race: Louisiana 2020-2021 jLPHA, 2024
• Using a severity threshold to improve occupational injury surveillance: Assessment of a severe traumatic injury‐based occupational health indicator across the ICD lexicon transition AJIM, 2023
• Additions to Disease Reporting Requirements: Pesticide-Related Illness & Injury and Heavy Metals (Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and Mercury) Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2006
• Adult Blood Lead Testing Louisiana Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2007
• An Analysis of Low Back Pain Disorders in Workers, Louisiana, 1998-2009 Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2011
• Asbestosis Hospitalizations, Louisiana 1999-2009 Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2011
• Asbestosis in Louisiana: A Descriptive Review and Demographic Analysis of Hospitalizations for Asbestosis, 1999-2009 Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society, 2011
• Carbon Monoxide Exposure in Office Building Sickens Employees - Louisiana, 2007 Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2007
• DEATH AT WORK: Fatal Occupational Injuries Louisiana, 1995-2004 Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2006
• Evaluation of the Louisiana Early Event Detection System for Timely Capture of Work-related Amputations Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2018
• Metal Fume Fever: A Review of the Literature and Cases Reported to the Louisiana Poison Control Center Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society, 2009
• Occupational Heat-Related Illness Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Hospitalizations in the Southeast Region, 2007-2011 American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2015 
• A Review of Adult Asthma Morbidity and Mortality; Louisiana, 2006-2010. Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2013
• A Review of Adult Asthma Inpatient Hospitalizations in Louisiana, 2006-2011 Journal of the Louisiana State Medical Society, 2015
• Tracking Work-Related Fatal Injuries in Louisiana (2015 - 2016)
• Traumatic Injury Hospitalizations Among Louisiana Workers, 2006-2014: Results of a Severity Threshold Analysis Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2016
• Worker Health Alert - Bronchiolitis Obliterans Among Food Manufacturing Workers Louisiana Morbidity Report, 2006

Presentations

• Workers’ Compensation COVID-19 2020 Claims, 2022 
• An Analysis of COVID-19 Fatalities in Louisiana, 2020