Evaluation of the quality of occupational hazards surveillance in Baiyin city, Gansu province

Objective To understand the performance of occupational hazards surveillance and quality of occupational disease network direct reporting in Baiyin, and take appropriate measures to improve the timeliness and accuracy of the network reporting. Methods The coverage rates of reporting network, timely reporting rates, timely verifying rates and qualified rates of reporting for occupational diseases in all counties (district) were calculated. Results The coverage rate of the reporting network increased from 9.09% in 2006 to 97.98% in 2009, an increase of 977.78%. The timely reporting rate was in increase despite some rise and fall. The differences on timely verifying rate and qualified rate of reporting had no statistical significance. The incidence data and surveillance information indicated that the incidence of notifiable occupational diseases declined, but the incidence of pesticide poisoning increased in Baiyin by years. The occupational health examination and occupational hazards surveillance were not conducted widely and could not reflect exactly the situation of occupational hazards in Baiyin. Conclusion The performance of occupational disease network direct reporting was improved steadily, but the reporting quality should be further increased. It is necessary to strengthen the supervision and management of the network direct reporting and evaluate the reporting quality regularly in the future.