Incidence and trend of occupational diseases in Ningbo, China, from 2006 to 2015

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the incidence, distribution features, and incidence trend of occupational diseases in Ningbo, China, from 2006 to 2015. Methods: In February 2016, the data on occupational disease report cards in the occupational disease and occupational health information system from 2006 to 2015 were collected to perform a comprehensive analysis of the types, incidence trend, population characteristics, and enterprise characteristics of occupational diseases. Results: There were 845 new cases of occupational diseases in Ningbo from 2006 to 2015, among which 596 (70.53%) were pneumoconiosis; there were 445 (74.66%) cases of stage I pneumoconiosis, 73 (12.25%) cases of stage II pneumoconiosis, and 78 (13.09%) cases of stage III pneumoconiosis; silicosis (59.76%) was the most common type of pneumoconiosis. Of all patients with occupational diseases, 84.97% were male, 64.50%were aged 35-55 years, and 63.67% had 5-20 working years. Most of the patients with occupational diseases worked in small and medium-sized private (or foreign) enterprises; the most common industries were black metal smelting and rolling (38.76%) , construction (17.11%) , and non-metallic ore mining (13.09%) . A total of 51.28%, 10.26%, and 7.69% of the patients with occupational poisoning worked in the electric apparatus manufacturing industry, furniture manufacturing industry, and chemical raw material and chemical product manufacturing industry, respectively. The cases of occupational diseases are mainly distributed in Yuyao City (24.62%) , Yinzhou District (23.91%) , and Ninghai County (15.62%) . Conclusion: Pneumoconiosis is the most common type of occupational disease in Ningbo and most of these patients work in small and medium-sized private (or foreign) enterprises. The supervision of small and medium-sized private enterprises should be enhanced to protect workers' health.