Disabled employees' higher risk of injury.

Employees with certain disabilities are more likely to be injured on the job than workers without disabilities. As a result, further research in the design and evaluation of workplace accommodations for these employees may be needed, according to research at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City

Craig Zwerling, associate professor of preventive medicine and environmental health, and his colleagues studied workers interviewed for the National Health Interview Survey, an ongoing program conducted each year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 459,827 NHIS subjects were aged 18-64, listed "working" as their primary activity, and their occupations were other than agricultural. After adjusting for occupation, self-employment, and age, it was found that employees with disabilities had a 36% greater risk for workplace injury.

For blind or deaf employees, the risk is substantially greater. When compared to workers without disabilities, the researchers found blindness more than tripled and deafness more than doubled the potential for injury Hearing impairments increased the possibility of injury among disabled workers by 55%. Pre-existing back impairment did not appear to be a major risk for injury, with just a 10% rise. The sole medical condition that turned out to create an increased risk for injury among employees with disabilities is arthritis, at 34%.

Zwerling notes that the number of U.S. workers with disabilities will likely...