In Illinois, the toll of preventable injuries in both the workplace and community remains high... Heading link

  • 1.5 Million Illinois residents suffered preventable injuries at work and in the community setting that required hospital care last year.

  • 10,023 Illinois residents died from all acute injury causes last year.

  • 1,646 Illinois workers were killed on the job over the last 10 years, but many deaths remain uncounted.

Factory worker using machine

Welcome Heading link

The Illinois Injury Prevention Center serves Illinois and the Midwest as a resource for injury research and prevention. We are committed to providing timely and informative research to scientists, journalists, and policy makers about injuries occurring in both the workplace and community.

Funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (CDC-NIOSH) allows our research team to conduct original research, interventions, and training to prevent occupational injuries and illnesses. Workplace injuries impact the health, well-being, and productivity of tens of thousands of Illinois workers every year. Low wage workers, teens, older workers, immigrants and people with disabilities are disproportionately affected by injuries at work. Following the research to practice model, our faculty use their findings to develop interventions with community partners and other occupational health stakeholders to promote prevention of workplace injuries.

Our research team specializes in analyses of large population based datasets, longitudinal cohorts, surveillance systems, data linkage and multi-center projects. A key goal of our research is to identify common risk factors of injury across realms that are traditionally evaluated separately: the environment, home/community and workplace. Our researchers conduct a wide array of community focused research relating to violence across the lifespan, substance use disorders, traffic safety, poisoning, self-harm, and impact of climate change on injury risk.

WHO WE ARE Heading link

Illinois Injury Prevention Center Goals Heading link

We aim to provide occupational and community injury related research for the U.S., Midwest and Illinois. Our work is funded by federal and state agencies, and we broadly collaborate with stakeholders in government, the private sector, academia and advocacy groups.

  • Surveillance

    Establish an active and sustainable surveillance program that leads to actionable prevention programs.

  • In Depth Analyses

    Conduct cutting edge original research to identify emerging hazards and promote policies to protect the most vulnerable in the community and workplace.

  • Collaboration

    Strengthen collaborations between communities, workers, businesses, advocacy groups, and government agencies to promote injury prevention awareness.

  • Translate Research to Practice

    Coordinate the translation of research findings into improved public health practice and advancement of policies that will reduce the burden of injuries.