Whether occupational injuries of the industrial workers can be prevented: an analysis from the slums of West Bengal-India?

A lack of research exists concerning the heterogeneity of the occupational injuries of slum dwellers across industries which has a close link with health expenditure and hence livelihood. It necessitates analysing their occupational injuries and associated out-of-pocket health expenditures. Multi-stage random sampling is used to collect the primary data and the logit model is used for data analyses. Permanent non-fatal injuries in the civil-mechanical industries and temporary non-fatal injuries in textile industries are common. The share of health expenditure of the injured workers seeking medical consultations remains 59% of their average monthly income. Average monthly income, parental occupation, types of industry, job security, risk intensity, and salary basis are significant estimates of occupational injuries. The differences in the nature and extent of the occupational injuries of the workers across industries in the light of the socio-demographic and working environment context provide significant insight into the policy implications.

Occupational injuries and contributing factors among industry park construction workers in Northwest Ethiopia

Background

Construction business is currently the second greatest source of injuries in Ethiopia after automotive accidents, with a risk of fatality that is five times higher than that of other industrial sectors. To establish measures for injury prevention, it is crucial to assess the severity of occupational injuries and identify the variables that contribute to them. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude and factors associated with occupational injuries among Bure Industrial Park construction workers, Northwest Ethiopia.

Methods

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 372 construction workers at Bure Industrial Park. The study participants were selected using a simple random sampling method. The data were collected using interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and work environment observation using structured checklist. In the descriptive statistic, frequencies, proportion, and mean were calculated and the results of the analysis were presented in text and tables. The bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify independent factors having associations with the occurrence of occupational injury.

Results

The overall prevalence of occupational injuries among Bure industrial park construction workers was 39.4%, 95%C.I (34.4%-44.4%). Factors such as sex (being male) [AOR = 1.74, 95%CI (1.02-2.97)], being married [AOR = 2.79, 95%CI (1.50-5.17)], no use of personal protective equipment [AOR = 1.67, 95%CI (1.12-2.85)], no training on occupational safety [AOR = 1.45, 95%CI (1.06-2.98)], and not satisfied with the job [AOR = 5.97, 95%CI (3.48-10.2)] were the factors associated with occupational injuries.

Conclusion and recommendation

The finding shows the public health importance of occupational injury among construction workers in the study area. Numerous factors have been linked to workplace injuries, including sex, marital status, the usage of personal protection equipment, training in occupational safety, and job satisfaction. As a result, in order to lower the rate of occupational injury, employers should prioritize offering safety training, encouraging the use of personal protective equipment while working, conducting routine workplace inspections, and ensuring that their staff members are happy at work by providing comfortable workspaces.

Building Construction Artisans’ Level of Access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the Perceived Barriers and Motivating Factors of Adherence to Its Use

Background

Employers are required to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to all employees in Ghana, and employees are required to wear the PPE provided. In Ghana, previous studies on health and safety in the construction industry that touched on PPE use did not explicitly demonstrate the reasons why many workers choose to use or not to use it, though they may be at risk of occupational hazards. The purpose of this study was to determine building construction artisans' level of access to PPE and the perceived barriers and motivating factors of adherence to its use. The contribution of this study lies in its examination of the perceived barriers and motivating factors underlying adherence and nonadherence to PPE use in the construction industry, particularly building construction, which is yet to be determined in Ghana.

Method

Data was collected from 173 frontline building construction workers using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine the effects of demographic variables on the perceived barrier and motivating factors of adherence to PPE use.

Results

The most common PPE that participants had access to was safety boots/shoes, with their main source being borrowing from colleagues. The majority of participants disagreed with the perceived barriers while agreeing with the motivating factors of adherence to PPE use. The results suggest statistically significant differences for years of working experience (Wilks = 0.77, F = 2.47; p ≤ 0.01) and form of employment (Wilks = 0.72, F = 3.25, p ≤ 0.01) for perceived barriers to adherence. For perceived motivating factors to adherence, significant differences were obtained for age group (Wilks = 0.84, F = 2.42, p ≤ 0.01), years of experience (Wilks = 0.85, F = 2.35, p ≤ 0.01), and form of employment (Wilks = 0.71, F = 5.22, p ≤ 0.01).

Conclusion

Age groups, years of experience, and form of employment were the main factors mediating adherence and nonadherence to PPE use by the construction workers. This study recommends safety training for workers if good safety management and performance concerning PPE use are to be achieved.

Industrial construction safety policies and practices with cost impacts in a COVID-19 pandemic environment: A Louisiana DOW case study

There are always significant challenges in improving the safety culture by changing and adding additional safety protocols. The unknown impacts of COVID-19 and how it quickly spreads led the industry to institute essential safety protocols. This paper addresses two problem statements. The first problem statement is: what are the additional safety protocols for process safety, construction & maintenance, and personal protective equipment requirements? The second problem statement is: what are the cost and schedule impacts of industrial construction projects resulting from implementing safety protocols and process safety during construction with the added PPE?

While complying with added safety protocols, the industrial construction industry cannot forget that it has a distinct reputation for high incident rates and less than desirable safety performance. In 2017, the construction industry suffered 971 fatalities. This alarming number is compared to 1123 total fatalities in 2017 for the Gulf Coast States. The objective is to share the rationale and practices of social distancing, required additional PPE, and personal hygiene practices to reduce spreading and outbreaks during a pandemic within an industrial construction environment. Before any construction work, the process safety teams must clear, isolate, and tag out process lines, equipment, and instruments to be repaired or replaced. The information presented demonstrates the significant cost and schedule impacts that industrial construction companies will encounter during a pandemic like COVID-19.

This paper aims to improve safety processes, cost & schedule impacts, and prescribe additional personal protective equipment in industrial construction during a pandemic such as COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic spread globally in a very short period. The reactions in mitigating the spread were suggestive, with little to no data on safety protective equipment and practices. The contribution this paper addresses are how to employ efficient safety practices and policies during a pandemic in an industrial construction environment.

Occupational injury and associated factors among construction workers in Ethiopia: a systematic and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Occupational injury is any personal injury, disease or death resulting from an occupational accident sustained on worker in connection with the performance of his or her work. Studies conducted in Ethiopia indicated variable findings ranging from 30% to 84.7% prevalence of occupational injury among construction workers. Therefore, the main aim of this systematic and meta-analysis was to pool the estimates and find the reasons for variability of the findings.

METHODS

The review has been registered at PROSPERO with registration identification number CRD42020222785. PubMed, Advanced Google search and Google Scholar databases were searched up to June 20, 2020 to identify relevant articles. Stata v14 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas, USA) was used for meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed by the funnel plot and more objectively by Egger's regression test. I-squared statistics was used to check the heterogeneity of the studies.

RESULT

This research searched a total of, 1241articles, from these articles 1189 from PubMed, 21 from advanced Google search and 31 from Google scholar databases. A total of 12 studies were included in the analysis and all of them were institutional based cross-sectional studies. All studies were conducted from 2004 to 2018 but published from 2007 to 2019. The prevalence of occupational injury among included studies ranges from 30% to 84.7% while the pooled prevalence of occupational injury among construction workers was 45.64% with 95%CI (33.54-57.74). The effect of each variables against occupational injury was pooled and PPE use [AOR = 1.75, 95%CI (1.46, 2.1)], occupational safety training [AOR = 1.63, 95%CI (1.13, 2.34)] and existence of regular supervision [AOR = 1.4, 95%CI (1.16, 1.68)] were significantly associated to occupational injury among construction workers at p-value ≤ 0.05 with 95% CI.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of occupational injury among construction workers is still very high and variables such as PPE use, occupational safety training and existence of regular supervision were factors affecting occupational injury among construction workers. Supply and use of PPE, provision of occupational safety training and regular supervision of workers has to be in place in order to reduce or remove occupational injury among construction workers in Ethiopia.

Workplace injury and associated factors among construction workers in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

The construction industry is one of the most hazardous working areas, where the highest number of labourers engaged. However, the predisposing factors for occupational injury in the construction sites in Ethiopia are not well investigated. This study was, therefore, conducted to assess the magnitude of occupational injury and associated factors among construction workers in Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 566 construction workers. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select study subjects. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and observation checklist. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify variables significantly associated with occupational injury on the basis of adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and p < 0.05.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of work-related injury in 3 months prior to the survey was found to be 39% (95% CI = 35.0-43.1%). The occurrence of occupational injury was associated with single workers [AOR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.25, 0.97], longer service year [AOR = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.72-4.53], poor attention to work [AOR = 2.65, 95% CI = 1.33, 5.29], working with vibrating hand tools [AOR = 3.23, 95% CI = 1.19, 8.76], no aware about occupational hazards [AOR = 4.66, 95% CI = 1.99, 10.87], and alcohol consumption [AOR = 3.16, 95% CI = 2.09, 4.79].

CONCLUSION

High prevalence of occupational injury was reported in the study area. Cut and fall were the leading causes. Marital status, service year, attention to work, use of vibrating hand tools, awareness about occupational hazards, and drinking alcohol were identified as factors associated with occupational injury. Therefore, health and safety trainings have to be taken place to aware workers about occupational injury and safety issues. Regular workplace supervision and provision of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) are also needed to prevent occupational injury. The findings of this study are useful to design and implement injury prevention strategies in the country. The study also contributes to the current literature as health and safety information is limited, especially in developing countries.

Impact of human development on safety consciousness in construction

The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that the risk of fatal occupational injuries in developing countries is almost twice as high as in developed countries, indicating a potential relationship between the fatality rates and the development level. The human development index (HDI), based on life expectancy, knowledge level and purchasing power parity, endorsed by the United Nations Development Programme, is a widely accepted measure of the development level. This study investigates the relationship between the HDI and the fatality rates reported by the ILO. A 23-country data set is used to demonstrate the general trend of the relationship followed by country-specific analyses for Australia, Spain, Hungary and Turkey. The study conducted is limited to fatal occupational injuries in construction, where the accidents are notoriously high. The results demonstrate a statistically significant inverse relationship between the fatality rates and the HDI.

Risk factors for non-fatal occupational injuries among construction workers: A case–control study

Background:

Substance abuse is a serious problem, because it affects both workers and young people. Prevalence and consequences of cannabis abuse among construction workers in particular are not well studied in Egypt.

Objectives:

To determine the association between non-fatal occupational injuries among construction workers and their demographic and occupational factors and to assess the frequency of cannabis abuse and its relationship to injury severity and workdays lost.

Subjects and methods:

A case–control study was conducted at Mansoura Emergency Hospital. Cases were 100 acutely injured male workers. A control group of 90 healthy age-matched workers was selected from 8 construction sites. Workers were interviewed, and a questionnaire was completed that included socio-demographic data, full occupational history, and causes and type of injury. Injury outcome measures included lost workdays and the injury severity score (ISS). Cannabis abuse in injured workers was monitored by preliminary testing of urine and confirmatory testing of blood.

Results:

Logistic regression analysis revealed that the independent predictors of occupational injuries were rural residence, being a carpenter or painter and past history of injuries. The most common accidents were slipping falls (62%). Confirmed cannabis test was positive in 51.1% of the injured workers. Median days away from work were greater among cannabis users than non-users. The ISS was significantly higher among users compared to non-users ( p < 0.05).

Conclusion:

Cannabis abuse can increase injury severity and prolong workdays lost. Drug testing is recommended for at-risk construction workers with inadequate safety measures.

Construction fatality due to electrical contact in Ontario, Canada, 1997-2007

BACKGROUND

Electrical contact is a leading cause of occupational fatality in the construction industry. However, research on the factors that contribute to electricity-related fatality in construction is limited.

OBJECTIVES

To characterize, using an adapted Haddon's Matrix, the factors that contribute to electricity-related occupational fatalities in the construction industry in Ontario, Canada.

METHODS

Coroner's data on occupational electricity-related fatalities between 1997-2007 in the construction industry were acquired from the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Using an adapted Haddon's Matrix, we characterized worker, agent, and environmental characteristics of electricity-related occupational fatalities in the province through a narrative text analysis.

RESULTS

Electrical contact was responsible for 15% of all occupational fatalities among construction workers in Ontario. Factors associated with said occupational fatalities included direct contact with electrical sources, lower voltage sources, and working outdoors.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides a profile of electricity-related occupational fatalities among construction workers in Ontario, and can be used to inform safety regulations.