Work-Related Burn Injuries in a Tertiary Care Burn Center, 2013 to 2018

The features of work-related burn injuries are not well defined in the literature and they vary depending on geographical location. We wanted to describe these characteristics among patients treated in UNC Burn Center to evaluate the potential impact of commonly accepted prevention efforts. Adults of working age, admitted between January 1st, 2013 and December 31st, 2018, were identified using our Burn Center Registry. Demographic data, characteristics of injury, course of treatment, and patients' outcomes were described. Differences between work-related and non-work-related injuries were evaluated using Chi-square test and Student-t test where appropriate. Three thousand five hundred and forty-five patients were included. Work-related burn cases constituted 18% of the study population, and this proportion remained relatively stable during the study timeframe. Young white males were the majority of this group. When compared to non-work-related burn patients they were characterized by less co-morbidities, decreased total body surface area burns, decreased risk of inhalation injury, shorter time of intensive care treatment, shorter lengths of hospital stay, and lower treatment cost. In contrast to non-work-related burns, among which flame injuries were the main reason for admission, work-related patients most often suffered scald burns. They also had a dramatically increased proportion of chemical and electrical burns, making the latter the most common cause of death in that group. Work-related burns are characterized by a characteristic patient profile, burn etiologies, and outcomes. Learning specific patterns at this group may contribute to optimize work safety regulations and medical interventions.