Prevalence and determinants of work related injuries among small and medium scale industry workers in Bahir Dar Town, north west Ethiopia.

Getnet Abebe Molla,Yohannes Kebede Lemu,Waju Beyene Salgedo

doi:10.1186/s40557-015-0062-3

Getnet Abebe Molla, Yohannes Kebede Lemu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40557-015-0062-3

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Abstract

ObjectivesTo assess the prevalence and determinants of work-related injuries among small and medium scale industrial workers in Bahir Dar town, northwest Ethiopia.MethodCross sectional comparative study design was used. Purposive sampling method was used to choose the specific Kebele 14 of the study area, for its relatively high number of industries. The study units were stratified into small and medium scale industries. All workers who were available at the time of interview were included in the study. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS for windows 16.0.ResultA total of 328 and 655 workers from small and medium-scale industries respectively participated in the study. Seven hundred sixty nine (78.2%) were males. Three hundred thirty six workers (34.2%) reported that they had experienced work-related injuries. Sex, monthly salary, age, work experience and use of personal protective equipment were found to be different in the small and medium industries (P < 0.05).ConclusionThere was a high prevalence of work related injuries. Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, personal work behavior and the working environment have contributed for the injuries. Work-related injuries are assumed to be preventable with the provision of occupational health programs in workplaces. Thus it is recommended that the owners of industries need to focus on training and installing safer work environment and Further studies with large-scale coverage and prospective study designs are warranted.

Highlights

Poor occupational health and safety results in 271 million work related injuries, 2 million work-related deaths, and 160 million work-related diseases per year
There was a high prevalence of work related injuries
Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, personal work behavior and the working environment have contributed for the injuries

Summary

Introduction

Poor occupational health and safety results in 271 million work related injuries, 2 million work-related deaths, and 160 million work-related diseases per year. In developing countries including Ethiopia, the risk of having work-related injury is 10 to 20 times higher than that of developed counties. This is because in developing countries, majority of the workforce is employed in small and medium scale industries that do not meet the minimum standards and guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the International Labor Organization for occupational health, safety and social protection [1]. It is estimated that yearly over 1.1 million people worldwide die of occupational injuries and workrelated diseases, a figure roughly equivalent to the global annual number of deaths from malaria. An additional problem to workers in Africa is the high prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS [2]

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