Scholars@Duke
Hester Johnstone Lipscomb

Hester Johnstone Lipscomb

Professor Emeritus in Family Medicine and Community Health
Family Medicine and Community Health, Occupational & Environmental
hester.lipscomb@duke.edu
Duke Box 3834, Durham, NC 27710
2200 W Main St Ste 700, Durham, NC 27705

Featured Works

Nonfatal tool- or equipment-related injuries treated in US emergency departments among workers in the construction industry, 1998-2005.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · June 2010 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Individuals in the construction industry are exposed to a variety of tools and pieces of equipment as they work. METHODS: Data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) occupational supplement to the National Electr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Continued progress in the prevention of nail gun injuries among apprentice carpenters: what will it take to see wider spread injury reductions?

Journal article J Safety Res · June 2010 Featured Publication PROBLEM: Nail guns are a common source of acute, and potentially serious, injury in residential construction. METHOD: Data on nail gun injuries, hours worked and hours of tool use were collected in 2008 from union apprentice carpenters (n=464) through clas ... Full text Link to item Cite

Surveillance of nail gun injuries by journeymen carpenters provides important insight into experiences of apprentices.

Journal article New Solut · 2010 Featured Publication Experienced journeymen conducted detailed surveillance interviews with injured apprentice carpenters (n = 413). Nail gun injuries commonly occurred due to inadvertent discharge, ricocheting or projectile nails, and penetration of the wood surface. Framing ... Full text Link to item Cite

Who is paying the bills? Health care costs for musculoskeletal back disorders, Washington State Union Carpenters, 1989-2003.

Journal article J Occup Environ Med · October 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Factors associated with private health insurance payment rates for musculoskeletal back disorders were examined among a 15-year cohort of union carpenters. Payment patterns were contrasted with work-related back injury rates over time. METHODS: ... Full text Link to item Cite

Compensation costs of work-related back disorders among union carpenters, Washington State 1989-2003.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · August 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: We measured resources used to provide medical care and to estimate lost productivity represented by payments for lost work time or impairment for work-related back injuries among a large cohort of union carpenters over 15 years. METHODS: Using ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health care utilization for musculoskeletal back disorders, Washington State union carpenters, 1989-2003.

Journal article J Occup Environ Med · May 2009 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Private health care utilization rates for musculoskeletal back disorders were contrasted to rates of work-related injuries or disorders for a large cohort of union carpenters over a 15-year period. METHODS: Yearly utilization rates were compared ... Full text Link to item Cite

Systematic reviews of workplace injury interventions: what are we missing?

Journal article Med Lav · 2009 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: There are pitfalls associated with applying a biomedical model with its emphasis on experimental designs to the evaluation of workplace injury interventions. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation over enough time is essential in occupational safety when inter ... Link to item Cite

Incident and recurrent back injuries among union carpenters.

Journal article Occup Environ Med · December 2008 Featured Publication AIMS: To describe incident and recurrent work-related back injuries among union carpenters, describe the hazard function for each and associated risk factors, and explore predictors of subsequent musculoskeletal back injury based on different definitions o ... Full text Link to item Cite

Prevention of traumatic nail gun injuries in apprentice carpenters: use of population-based measures to monitor intervention effectiveness.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · October 2008 Featured Publication INTRODUCTION: Nail guns are responsible for a significant injury burden in residential construction. Risk, based on hours of work, is particularly high among apprentice carpenters due in part to more frequent exposure to tool use. METHODS: Nail gun injurie ... Full text Link to item Cite

Challenges in residential fall prevention: insight from apprentice carpenters.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · January 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Falls remain a serious source of morbidity and mortality in residential construction despite considerable knowledge of risk factors and prevention strategies. While training is universally viewed as positive, we know little about its effectiven ... Full text Link to item Cite

How much time is safety worth? A comparison of trigger configurations on pneumatic nail guns in residential framing.

Journal article Public Health Rep · 2008 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: Nail gun injuries are among the most common in wood frame construction. Despite evidence that the majority of injuries from unintentional firings could be prevented with a sequential trigger mechanism on the tools, the safer trigger has not been ... Full text Link to item Cite

Upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms and disorders among a cohort of women employed in poultry processing.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · January 2008 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: We evaluated musculoskeletal problems among women employed in poultry processing in rural northeastern North Carolina. Poultry processing is the largest single employer of women in this economically depressed region with a black majority popula ... Full text Link to item Cite

Musculoskeletal symptoms among poultry processing workers and a community comparison group: Black women in low-wage jobs in the rural South.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · May 2007 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Poultry processing is characterized by rapid line speed and extreme division of labor. Morbidity associated with this work has been reported by scientists, journalists and workers in this fast growing industry. METHODS: Cross-sectional data fro ... Full text Link to item Cite

Are we failing vulnerable workers? The case of black women in poultry processing in rural North Carolina.

Journal article New Solut · 2007 Featured Publication In 1989, North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors cited two poultry processing plants in northeastern North Carolina for serious repetitive motion problems. In 1990, investigators from the National Institute for Occupa ... Full text Link to item Cite

Work hazards and workplace safety violations experienced by adolescent construction workers.

Journal article Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med · July 2006 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To describe the working conditions of adolescents employed in construction in North Carolina, documenting hazards, safety practices, and prohibited activities. DESIGN: A cross-sectional telephone survey. SETTING: North Carolina. PARTICIPANTS: Ad ... Full text Link to item Cite

Nail gun injuries in apprentice carpenters: risk factors and control measures.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · July 2006 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Nail guns increase residential construction productivity but their use is associated with risk of injury. METHODS: Active surveillance data from 772 apprentice carpenters were used to document the injury risk associated with the use of nail gun ... Full text Link to item Cite

Injuries from slips and trips in construction.

Journal article Appl Ergon · May 2006 Featured Publication Construction injuries preceded by a slip or trip were documented using data from the building of the Denver International Airport (Denver, Colorado, USA), the largest construction project in the world at the time. Slips and trips occurred at a rate of 5/20 ... Full text Link to item Cite

A conceptual model of work and health disparities in the United States.

Journal article Int J Health Serv · 2006 Featured Publication Recent research in medicine and public health highlights differences in health related to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender. These inequalities, often labeled "disparities," are pervasive and pertain to the major causes of morbidity, mortal ... Full text Link to item Cite

Exploration of work and health disparities among black women employed in poultry processing in the rural south.

Journal article Environ Health Perspect · December 2005 Featured Publication We describe an ongoing collaboration that developed as academic investigators responded to a specific request from community members to document health effects on black women of employment in poultry-processing plants in rural North Carolina. Primary outco ... Full text Link to item Cite

Analysis of text from injury reports improves understanding of construction falls.

Journal article J Occup Environ Med · November 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: We combined payroll data, coded workers' compensation (WC) data, and text descriptions of injuries from the construction of Denver International Airport to create a more comprehensive picture of falls from height (FFH) than is typically availabl ... Full text Link to item Cite

Musculoskeletal symptoms among commercial fishers in North Carolina.

Journal article Appl Ergon · September 2004 Featured Publication Musculoskeletal symptoms were reported by 215 fishermen followed at 6-month intervals over 18 months. Exposure information was collected through field observation and in-depth ethnographic interviews allowing potential ergonomic stressors to be identified ... Full text Link to item Cite

Work related injuries in small scale commercial fishing.

Journal article Inj Prev · August 2004 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiology of work related injury in a group of small scale, independent commercial fishers. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey (baseline instrument of a prospective cohort study). SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Commercial fishers in easter ... Full text Link to item Cite

Use of qualitative methods to map job tasks and exposures to occupational hazards for commercial fishermen.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · July 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Understanding job tasks and estimating occupational exposures is difficult for self-employed or autonomous workers, who tend to be dispersed, with no fixed workplace, employment records, or historical exposure measurements. METHODS: We used eth ... Full text Link to item Cite

An integrated comprehensive occupational surveillance system for health care workers.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · June 2004 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Workers in the health care industry may be exposed to a variety of work-related stressors including infectious, chemical, and physical agents; ergonomic hazards; psychological hazards; and workplace violence. Many of these hazards lack surveill ... Full text Link to item Cite

Falls in residential carpentry and drywall installation: findings from active injury surveillance with union carpenters.

Journal article J Occup Environ Med · August 2003 Featured Publication Active injury surveillance was conducted with a large, unionized workforce of residential and drywall carpenters over a 3-year period. Injured carpenters were interviewed by trained carpenter investigators and sites were visited where falls occurred. Quali ... Full text Link to item Cite

Falls among union carpenters.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · August 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Falls are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the construction trades. METHODS: We identified a cohort of 16,215 active union carpenters, hours worked, and their workers' compensation claims for a 10-year period. The data on this well ... Full text Link to item Cite

Direct costs and patterns of injuries among residential carpenters, 1995-2000.

Journal article J Occup Environ Med · August 2003 Featured Publication Workers' compensation records for residential contractors were combined with hours worked provided by the union to examine injury rates and costs among union carpenters between 1995 and 2000. Brief text descriptions were reviewed to describe more costly in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Work-related falls among union carpenters in Washington State before and after the Vertical Fall Arrest Standard.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · August 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Washington State enacted a change in their fall standard for the construction industry in 1991, preceding the Safety Standard for Fall Protection in the Construction Industry promulgated by Federal OSHA in 1994. METHODS: We evaluated changes in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Work-related injuries in residential and drywall carpentry.

Journal article Appl Occup Environ Hyg · June 2003 Featured Publication Findings are reported on the first two years of an active injury surveillance project designed to test the utility of active injury investigations in identifying causes of injury among a large cohort of carpenters who did residential building and drywall i ... Full text Link to item Cite

The North Country on the Job Network: a unique role for occupational health nurses in a community coalition.

Journal article AAOHN J · May 2003 Featured Publication 1. Through a community based program, nurses were hired by a rural medical center to facilitate care for injured workers in the community. This placed the nurses outside the industrial and insurance arenas. 2. Rapid access to care and expedited return to w ... Link to item Cite

Health care utilization of families of carpenters with alcohol or substance abuse-related diagnoses.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · April 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Patterns of health care utilization of families of carpenters with and without alcohol and/or substance abuse related diagnoses (ASRD) were compared. METHODS: Utilization data for families of 13,657 carpenters for a 10 year period were analyzed ... Full text Link to item Cite

Nail gun injuries in residential carpentry: lessons from active injury surveillance.

Journal article Inj Prev · March 2003 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To describe circumstances surrounding injuries involving nail guns among carpenters, calculate injury rates, identify high risk groups and preventive measures. METHODS: and setting: Active injury surveillance was used to identify causes of injur ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health care utilization of carpenters with substance abuse-related diagnoses.

Journal article Am J Ind Med · February 2003 Featured Publication BACKGROUND: Persons in the construction trades in the US have high rates of alcohol and substance abuse. We had the unique opportunity to evaluate health care utilization through private insurance and workers' compensation for a group of carpenters at high ... Full text Link to item Cite

Evaluation of the North Country on the Job Network: a model of facilitated care for injured workers in rural upstate New York.

Journal article J Occup Environ Med · March 2002 Featured Publication We describe the evaluation of a community-based program designed to facilitate access to care and return to work for injured workers in a rural, medically underserved area in upstate New York. Providers are recruited to provide easily accessible care and a ... Full text Link to item Cite

Clinical findings for residents near a polyurethane foam manufacturing plant.

Journal article Arch Environ Health · 2002 Featured Publication Clinical findings for 38 community residents who complained of symptoms they attributed to exposure to air emissions from nearby fiber processing and polyurethane foam manufacturing facilities are reported. Common complaints included headache, mucosal irri ... Full text Link to item Cite

Injuries among teens employed in the homebuilding industry in North Carolina.

Journal article Inj Prev · September 2001 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: To describe injuries of teens employed in the residential construction industry and to assess whether their injury experiences are significantly different from those of adults in this high risk industry. METHODS AND SETTING: North Carolina homeb ... Full text Link to item Cite

Work-related injuries in drywall installation.

Journal article Appl Occup Environ Hyg · October 2000 Featured Publication Administrative data sources were used to describe the work-related injuries of drywall carpenters, to calculate rates of occurrence, and to explore high risk sub-groups. Health insurance eligibility files were used to identify a cohort of active union carp ... Full text Link to item Cite

Deaths from external causes of injury among construction workers in North Carolina, 1988-1994.

Journal article Appl Occup Environ Hyg · July 2000 Featured Publication Records from the Office of the North Carolina Chief Medical Examiner were used to describe 3955 deaths, both on and off the job, between 1988 and 1994 from external causes of injury (E-codes) among individuals whose usual occupation was in the construction ... Full text Link to item Cite

Effectiveness of interventions to prevent work-related eye injuries.

Journal article Am J Prev Med · May 2000 Featured Publication OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review was to describe the effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent work-related eye injuries in construction, manufacturing, and agricultural industries. Two types of interventions were of interest: (1) effective ... Full text Link to item Cite

Work-related eye injuries among union carpenters.

Journal article Appl Occup Environ Hyg · October 1999 Featured Publication Union administrative records were combined with workers' compensation data to identify a cohort of 12,958 active union carpenters, their person-time at risk, and their documented work-related eye injuries between 1989 and 1995 in the state of Washington. T ... Full text Link to item Cite