Occupational
& Environmental
Medicine
College of Human Medicine

SKULL FRACTURES

Surveillance of Work-Related Skull Fractures in Michigan

Work-related skull fractures are a preventable cause of work-related injury and are among the most severe that can occur in a workplace. A skull fracture, which is a crack or break in the cranial (skull) bones, is a small percentage of all traumatic brain injuries (TBI). TBI encompasses a larger category of skull injuries and includes concussions and other conditions without a bone fracture. In Michigan, surveillance for work-related skull fractures began in 2010. Records from Michigan's hospitals/emergency departments, Workers' Compensation Agency and death certificates are used to identify work-related skull fractures. The Michigan work-related skull fracture surveillance system allows the State to identify causes of work-related skull fractures, target interventions to reduce future skull fractures and evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions.

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