Occupational Injuries and Health Status Among Rural Tribal Non-Traditional Fishing Communities in the Coastal Region of Tamil Nadu, India

OBJECTIVES

This study evaluated the occupational injuries and health hazards associated with fishing as an occupation among non-traditional rural tribal fishing communities in the coastal region of Tamil Nadu, India.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included a total of 170 individuals belonging to a fishing community, comprising both male (n = 82) and female (n = 88) participants. The demographic details including occupational history, lifestyle characteristics, socio-economic status, personal habits, and health status were assessed through the questionnaire survey.

RESULTS

The fishing community has a low socioeconomic status and poor literacy, lifestyle, and personal habits. The mean age of the participants was 38.8 yrs (male 34.8; female 39.9 yrs). Only 10% reported usage of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the work duration varied from 8 to 24 hrs in a day. While male subjects reported smoking habits (12%) and alcohol consumption (23%), none of the females reported alcohol consumption and smoking habits. The major occupational injuries that occurred were due to catfish (72%) and oysters (48%). A large number of female subjects reported musculoskeletal pains. The body mass index of about 28% of fishermen was above the normal range. Abnormal blood sugar, blood pressure, and respiratory and neurological symptoms were the other major health complaints. The major environmental hazards reported were salinity, solar radiation, tides, and high wind.

CONCLUSION

Injuries from handling fish and oysters were observed to be the major occupational burden. Additonally, a high prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and chronic health illness was commonly observed among the fishers. Adequate training and awareness programs are required for effective management of occupational health hazards and health promotion.

Epidemiology of work-related injuries, musculoskeletal disorders and dermatitis among hospital food service workers in a tertiary hospital in Asia

BACKGROUND

Despite the relative importance, the prevalence of workplace safety and health issues in hospital food service workers is not well studied. This study describes the epidemiology of work-related injuries and occupational diseases among hospital food service workers (FSWs) in a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

METHODS

Using a total population sampling approach, a cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all FSWs employed at a major tertiary hospital in Singapore.

RESULTS

The response rate was 98.4% (n = 125). The overall prevalence of workplace injuries and musculoskeletal symptoms was 35% (n = 43) and 53% (n = 65) respectively. The most common workplace injuries were cuts/lacerations (35.8%), muscle strain (25.4%) and burns (19.4%). The prevalence of workplace injuries among staff performing food preparation duties was higher at 56.3% as compared to 21.6% among staff with no food preparation duties (p < 0.01). The prevalence of workplace injuries among staff performing cooking duties was also higher at 47.5%, compared to 29.3% among staff with no cooking duties (p = 0.05). Staff performing food preparation duties had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms at 66.7% as compared to 44.6% among staff with no food preparation duties (p = 0.02). Obese staff had a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms at 78.9%, compared to overweight staff at 53.8% and staff with normal weight at 43.1% (p = 0.03).

CONCLUSION

FSWs with jobs involving cooking and preparation of food, and those with obesity, are at higher risk of sustaining workplace injuries or musculoskeletal symptoms. Targeted interventions should be implemented for injury prevention and to mitigate these risks.

Contextualizing injury severity from occupational accident reports using an optimized deep learning prediction model

Background

This study introduced a novel approach for predicting occupational injury severity by leveraging deep learning-based text classification techniques to analyze unstructured narratives. Unlike conventional methods that rely on structured data, our approach recognizes the richness of information within injury narrative descriptions with the aim of extracting valuable insights for improved occupational injury severity assessment.

Methods

Natural language processing (NLP) techniques were harnessed to preprocess the occupational injury narratives obtained from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from January 2015 to June 2023. The methodology involved meticulous preprocessing of textual narratives to standardize text and eliminate noise, followed by the innovative integration of Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) and Global Vector (GloVe) word embeddings for effective text representation. The proposed predictive model adopts a novel Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM) architecture and is further refined through model optimization, including random search hyperparameters and in-depth feature importance analysis. The optimized Bi-LSTM model has been compared and validated against other machine learning classifiers which are naïve Bayes, support vector machine, random forest, decision trees, and K-nearest neighbor.

Results

The proposed optimized Bi-LSTM models' superior predictability, boasted an accuracy of 0.95 for hospitalization and 0.98 for amputation cases with faster model processing times. Interestingly, the feature importance analysis revealed predictive keywords related to the causal factors of occupational injuries thereby providing valuable insights to enhance model interpretability.

Conclusion

Our proposed optimized Bi-LSTM model offers safety and health practitioners an effective tool to empower workplace safety proactive measures, thereby contributing to business productivity and sustainability. This study lays the foundation for further exploration of predictive analytics in the occupational safety and health domain.

Mixed-methods community assessment of drowning and water safety knowledge and behaviours on Lake Victoria

BACKGROUND

Drowning is a major cause of death in Uganda, especially among young adults with water-based occupations and livelihoods. Information about drowning and other water-related deaths and injuries is limited. To address this gap in knowledge, study partners assessed knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about drowning and drowning prevention interventions in the Mayuge district of eastern Uganda.

METHODS

This study consisted of a mixed-methods, cross-sectional community health assessment. Research was conducted in 10 landing sites of 6 subcounties within Mayuge district bordering Lake Victoria and focused on 505 head-of-household interviews, 15 key informant interviews, 10 landing site observations and 3 focus group discussions with 10 young adults each.

RESULTS

While landing site observations revealed high lake use, households reported limited community drowning prevention knowledge and revealed risky behaviours and attitudes towards water safety. Less than one-third (30.9%) of participants reported that at least one family member can swim. 64.2% of all respondents reported no existing safety measures (eg, signage, fences) around the lake and 95.8% reported no aquatic emergency response system in their community. The majority of households (85.7%) had experienced a drowning incident in their area. Key informants and focus group participants were eager for community-based interventions and offered solutions that reflected international drowning prevention recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS

The results reveal gaps in services, access and knowledge and highlight a need for water safety services and interventions in lakeside communities in Uganda and throughout the Lake Victoria Basin.

Prevalence of occupational injury and its associated factors among emergency department physicians in China: A large sample, cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Medical personnel, particularly emergency department (ED) physicians, face a variety of occupational hazards. However, the current state of occupational injuries among ED physicians remains unknown. This study aimed to assess the occupational injury of Chinese ED physicians and to identify its associated factors.

METHODS

From July to August 2018, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in Chinese emergency departments. A structured questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, individual health behaviours, and work-related characteristics was completed by 10,457 ED physicians. Binary logistic regression was used to analyse the factors associated with occupational injuries.

RESULTS

In this study, 81.13% of ED physicians reported occupational injuries in the previous 12 months. All participants who had experienced occupational injuries had suffered verbal violence. Among physicians who experienced at least one injury, 76.57% and 71.30% reported injuries sustained while moving patients and from falls, slips, and sprains during office visits, respectively. Occupational injuries were significantly associated with gender, education level, drinking behaviour, sleep quality, the frequency of night shifts per month, self-perceived physician shortage, and work-family conflict. Physicians who experienced effort-reward imbalance were at a higher risk of occupational injury.

CONCLUSION

In China, occupational injuries are common among ED physicians. Individual factors as well as work-related factors are independently linked to occupational injuries. To reduce the rate of occupational injuries among ED physicians, health policymakers and healthcare facility managers should consider multi-injury interventions.

Fostering Stay at Work After a Period of Disability: A Scoping Review of Occupational Rehabilitation Strategies to Support Workers in the Adoption of Preventive Behaviours

PURPOSE

Based on the theoretical framework of the Model of Preventive Behaviours at Work, the aim of this study was to describe the the occupational rehabilitation strategies the literature reports that support workers who have suffered an occupational injury in adopting preventive behaviours.

METHODS

To conduct this scoping review, we used a systematic methodology in 7 steps : (1) definition of the research question and inclusion/exclusion criteria; (2) scientific and gray literature search; (3) determination of manuscripts' eligibility; (4) extraction and charting of information; (5) quality assessment; (6) interpretation; and (7) knowledge synthesis.

RESULTS

We selected 46 manuscripts of various types (e.g. randomized trials, qualitative studies, governmental documents). Manuscripts were mainly of good or high quality according to our quality assessment. The strategies for coaching, engaging, educating and collaborating were mostly reported in the literature to support the development of the six preventive behaviours during occupational rehabilitation. The results also suggest that heterogeneity exists regarding the specificity of the strategies reported in the literature, which may have hindered our ability to provide rich and detailed descriptions. Literature also mainly describes individually oriented behaviours and reports strategies requiring a low level of worker involvement, which represent issues to adress in future researh projects.

CONCLUSION

The strategies described in this article reprensent concrete levers that occupational rehabilitation professionals can use to support workers in the adoption of preventive behaviours at work on return from having suffered an occupational injury.

Twenty-five year occupational homicide mortality trends in North Carolina: 1992-2017

INTRODUCTION

Determining industry of decedents and victim-perpetrator relationships is crucial to inform and evaluate occupational homicide prevention strategies. In this study, we examine occupational homicide rates in North Carolina (NC) by victim characteristics, industry and victim-perpetrator relationship from 1992 to 2017.

METHODS

Occupational homicides were identified from records of the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner system and the NC death certificates. Sex, age, race, ethnicity, class of worker, manner of death, victim-perpetrator relationship and industry were abstracted. Crude and age-standardised homicide rates were calculated as the number of homicides that occurred at work divided by an estimate of worker-years (w-y). Rate ratios and 95% CIs were calculated, and trends over calendar time in occupational homicide rates were examined overall and by industry.

RESULTS

456 homicides over 111 573 049 w-y were observed. Occupational homicide rates decreased from 0.82 per 100 000 w-y for the period 1992-1995 to 0.21 per 100 000 w-y for the period 2011-2015, but increased to 0.32 per 100 000 w-y in the period 2016-2017. Fifty-five per cent (252) of homicides were perpetrated by strangers. Taxi drivers experienced an occupational homicide rate that was 110 times (95% CI 76.52 to 160.19) the overall occupational homicide rate in NC; however, this rate declined by 76.5% between 1992 and 2017. Disparities were observed among workers 65+ years old, racially and ethnically minoritised workers and self-employed workers.

CONCLUSION

Our findings identify industries and worker demographics that experienced high occupational homicide fatality rates. Targeted and tailored mitigation strategies among vulnerable industries and workers are recommended.

Farm operations and slips, trips, and falls among corn farm workers in Thailand

Slips, trips, and falls (STFs) represent a main source of injury among farm workers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between farm operations and STFs among corn farm workers. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire among corn farm workers in Nan and Saraburi provinces, Thailand from July 5 to 23, 2022. Poisson regression analysis was used. Among 338 participants, 122 (36.1%) had experienced an STF in the previous 6 months. Conducting very frequent, frequent, or occasional pest management was associated with a higher incidence rate ratio (IRR) of STFs than never or rarely pest management (adjusted IRR 1.93, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.23 to 3.04, p=0.004). People with marginal or unsatisfactory work break lengths had a higher incidence rate of STFs than those with satisfactory work breaks (adjusted IRR 1.40, 95% CI=1.03 to 1.89, p=0.030). We found that corn farm workers in our study often experienced STFs, which was associated with a high frequency of pest management practices and inadequate work breaks. Reducing the physical burden of pest management may be effective as an STF prevention strategy.

No cupid, just an arrow: a penetrating injury into the interventricular septum

BACKGROUND

Penetrating cardiac injuries are rare but often fatal, with 16-55% mortality. We report a patient who suffered a non-fatal occupational cardiac injury.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 47-year-old man was operating an ironworker machine. A thin 3-cm metal fragment catapulted from the machine piercing the chest wall and the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT), burrowing into the interventricular septum (IVS). The patient remained hemodynamically stable and walked to the nearest hospital. ECG-gated computed tomography revealed the exact location of the fragment within the IVS, allowing for detailed preoperative planning. The fragment was removed through a sternotomy and an incision through the RVOT. The postoperative course was uneventful.

CONCLUSIONS

This case underscores the value of detailed preoperative imaging and the wide spectrum of clinical scenarios of penetrating cardiac injuries.

The impact of procedural activities on musculoskeletal pain experienced by pregnant surgeons

BACKGROUND

Two-thirds of surgeons report work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMD). There is limited data on WRMD symptoms experienced by pregnant surgeons.

METHODS

We distributed an electronic survey via personal contacts to attending and trainee surgeons across six academic institutions to assess the impact of procedural activities and surgical ergonomics (SE) on WRMD symptoms during pregnancy.

RESULTS

Fifty-three respondents were currently or had been pregnant while clinically active, representing 93 total pregnancies. 94.7% reported that symptoms were exacerbated by workplace activities during pregnancy and 13.2% took unplanned time off work as a result. Beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy, 89.2% of respondents continued to operate/perform procedures, 81.7% worked >24-h shifts and 69.9% performed repetitive lifting >50 pounds. No respondents were aware of any institutional pregnancy-specific SE policies.

CONCLUSIONS

Procedural activities can exacerbate pain symptoms for the pregnant surgeon. SE best practices during pregnancy warrant further attention.

Corporate Characteristics and Occupational Injuries by Industry

Background

Recent research on occupational injuries in companies has faced difficulties in obtaining representative data, leading to studies relying on surveys or case studies. Moreover, it is difficult to find studies on how a company's industry characteristics affect occupational injuries. This study aims to address these limitations.

Methods

We collected 11 years of disclosure data from 1,247 listed companies in the Korean stock market and combined it with their occupational injury histories collected by the Republic of Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) to build a dataset. We attempted to analyze a linear panel model by dividing the dataset into manufacturing, construction, and other industries.

Results

The higher proportion of full-time employees and better job skills correlate with lower occupational injuries in other industries. The wage increase reduces occupational injuries in manufacturing and other industries, but the substitution effect produces the opposite outcome in construction. Also, foreign ownership and credit ratings increase effectively reduce occupational injuries mainly in the manufacturing industry.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that in explaining the relationship between corporate characteristics and occupational injuries, it is necessary to consider the nature of the industry more closely, and in particular, employment and labor policies for preventing occupational injuries need to be selectively applied according to industry. In addition, to improve the limitations and increase the usability of the research results, further detailed studies are needed in the future.

Development and psychometric evaluation of an occupational health and safety performance tool for manufacturing companies

Background

The occupational health and safety (OHS) performance of organizations maybe affected by internal and external factors. According to a literature review, standardized tools for studying these factors are limited. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to examine psychometric properties of a tool for evaluating OHS performance. The tool was used to investigate the relationship between the identified OHS performance influencing factors and occupational injury.

Methods

The questionnaire developed through conducting a literature review about the OHS performance and constructing a question pool. The number of items was reduced to 93 after performing a screening process. Sixteen OHS scholars offered feedback on the tool's phrasing and applicability to check face and content validity. Test-retest reliability was examined through intraclass correlation coefficients. 850 questionnaires were distributed at 12 manufacturing companies in the West Azerbaijan province in Iran, 600 valid questionnaires were returned. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to assess construct validity. Criterion validity was investigated by measuring agreement between its OHS performance scores and occupational injury. A set of regression analyses examined the variables associated with OHS influencing factors.

Results

Validity analysis revealed that 93 items had an excellent content validity ratio (>0.79) and content validity index (>0.47). The exploratory factor analysis resulted in eleven OHS performance factors. Thirty-three items were removed because of inadequate reliability. The result of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the OHS performance model is satisfactory. The final 60-item scale's reliability score was 0.96. The safety system was identified as the main influencing factor (3.54 ± 0.65). Participants with more safety training reported more injuries. Safety training and injury experiences, company size, and occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) adoption affected OHS performance influencing factors. Occupational injuries were linked to company size (OR = 1.39, CI = 1.06-1.82), whereas the absence of OHSMS was connected with an increased risk of occupational injury (OR = 0.09, CI = 0.02-0.55).

Conclusions

The developed tool had satisfactory psychometric properties for assessing OHS performance in manufacturing companies. OHS performance could be improved by implementing safety systems and focusing more on incentive programs. Implementing the requirements of an OHSMS may improve the OHS performance and decrease occupational injuries.

Assessment of the relationship between the return to work and the severity of work-related upper limb injuries using the whole person impairment

PURPOSE

Upper limb disorders are one of the most common and important types of occupational injuries. Besides, identifying the factors influencing return to work following these injuries is essential to reduce the dimensions of the problem. In this study, we investigated the return to work and associated factors following occupational injuries leading to upper limb impairment.

METHODS

In this retrospective cohort study, the rate of return to work and associated factors were assessed in 256 workers with work-related upper limb injury referred to a teaching hospital from March 2011 to December 2018. The inclusion criterion was a history of occupational injury resulting in upper limb impairment, and exclusion criteria included the presence of simultaneous impairment in other organs, congenital or non-occupational limb defects as well as patients with incomplete information in their medical records. Individuals' records, including age at the time of injury, gender, date of injury, marital status, education, level of amputation and injury, whole person impairment (WPI) and physiotherapy (prescribed by the physician) were reviewed. The WPI was calculated to assess the extent of the injury. All analyzes were performed by SPSS version 25.0.

RESULT

The rate of return to work was 54.3%, in which 51.8% for the same job and 48.2% for a new job. The main factors associated with non-return to work were more days off work (p = 0.001), higher injury severity (p = 0.001), and dominant hand injury (p = 0.034).

CONCLUSION

The number of days off work, the WPI, and dominant hand injury are the most important determinant in returning to work. In addition, increased job satisfaction and support from co-workers and employers are work-related factors that can lead to an increased return to work.

"I grabbed my stuff and walked out": Precarious workers' responses and next steps when faced with procedural unfairness during work injury and claims processes

PURPOSE

Injured workers can experience adverse effects from work injury and claims processes.Workers may be treated unfairly by employers, compensation boards, and return-to-work coordinators; however,how workers respond to these challenges is unknown. This article describes how injured precarious workersresponded behaviourally and emotionally to procedural unfairness in work injury and claims processes, and whatworkers did next.

METHODS

Interviews were conducted with thirty-six precariously employedinjured workers recruited in Ontario through social media, email, cold calling, word-of-mouth, and the "snowball"method. Thematic code summaries were analyzed to identify how precarious workers responded to procedural unfairness.

RESULTS

Workers went through all or most of these five stages (not always linearly)when faced with procedural unfairness: (1) passive, (2) fought back, (3) quit pursuit of claim, (4) quit job, and (5)won or got further in fight. Feeling confused, angry, frustrated, unsupported, disappointed, determined, optimistic,and wary were common emotions.

CONCLUSIONS

Identifying unfairness and its emotional,behavioral, and material effects on workers is important to understand implications for compensation systems.Understanding and recognizing unfairness can equip employers, legal representatives, compensation boards, andphysicians, to address and prevent it, and provide worker resources. Policy changes can ensure accountability andconsequences to unfairness initiators.

Occurrence of Occupational Injuries and Within Day Changes in Wet Bulb Temperature Among Sugarcane Harvesters

OBJECTIVE

Climate change has implications for human health worldwide, with workers in outdoor occupations in low- to middle-income countries shouldering the burden of increasing average temperatures and more frequent extreme heat days. An overlooked aspect of the human health impact is the relationship between heat exposure and increased risk of occupational injury. In this study, we examined the association between occupational injury occurrence and changes in outdoor temperatures through the workday among a cohort of Guatemalan sugarcane harvesters.

METHODS

Occupational injuries recorded for the 2014/2015 to 2017/2018 harvest seasons were collected from a large agribusiness employing male sugarcane harvesters in Southwest Guatemala. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) for the same period was collected from the El Balsamo weather station. We used a logistic mixed effects model to examine the association between injury occurrence and (1) the average WBGT during the hour injury was recorded, (2) the average WBGT during the hour prior to the injury being recorded, and (3) the change in the hourly average WBGT prior to the injury being recorded.

RESULTS

There were 155 injuries recorded during the study period. Injuries were recorded most often between 14:00 and 16:00 (n = 62, 40%) followed by 8:00 and 10:00 (n = 56, 36%). There were significant differences in the average hourly WBGT and the hour in which injuries were recorded (p-value <.001). There were no observable associations between average hourly WBGT (OR: 1.00, 95%CI: 0.94, 1.05; p-value: 0.87), lagged average hourly WBGT (OR: 1.01, 95%CI: 0.97, 1.05; p-value: 0.71), or change in average hourly WBGT (OR: 0.96, 95%CI: 0.89, 1.04; p-value: 0.35) and recorded occupational injury.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first study that has examined how changes in WBGT throughout the day are related to occupational injury among agricultural workers. Although this study did not demonstrate an association, there is a need for future research to examine how various measurements of WBGT exposure are related to occupational injury in agricultural worker populations.

The effect of weather and temporal factors on emergency hand trauma consultations

INTRODUCTION

Fluctuations in the numbers of patient consultations in hand trauma emergency units are challenging in terms of both scheduling and the provision of sufficient resources. Trauma consultations in general are affected by both temporal and meteorological variables. As the genesis and epidemiology of hand trauma have their own characteristics, this study aimed to identify the influence of temporal and meteorological factors on hand trauma consultations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All patients treated for hand trauma in our level one trauma center in 2019 were included in the study population and the data were analyzed in retrospect. The daily weather data, including temperature, sunshine duration, precipitation, humidity and wind speed, as well as temporal factors such as time of day, weekday and public holidays were considered and correlated with patient consultations. Gender differences were studied as well.

RESULTS

We included 4787 hand trauma patients (66.4% male, mean age 38.4 ± 19.3 years, 31.7% occupational injuries). Significantly more consultations occurred on Saturdays as compared to weekdays (14.8 ± 0.6, n = 52 vs. 13.0 ± 0.2, n = 261; p = 0.028), and fewer occurred on official holidays (11.8 ± 0.5, n = 63 vs. 13.4 ± 0.2, n = 302; p = 0.0047). We found a significant positive correlation between daily consultations, sunshine duration (r = 0.14, p = 0.0056) and the mean temperature (r = 0.20, p < 0.0001); in contrast, a significant negative correlation between daily consultations and humidity (r = - 0.17, p = 0.001) was observed. Furthermore, fewer consultations were seen on days with precipitation (12.7 ± 0.3, n = 219 vs. 13.8 ± 0.3, n = 146; p = 0.009). The variation was considerably stronger in men.

CONCLUSIONS

Hand trauma consultations increased with increasing temperatures, duration of sunshine, and decreasing humidity. Peak admissions were seen on Fridays and Saturdays. These findings can assist in predicting days with peak admissions to allocate resources appropriately.

Are plumbing apprentice graduates safer than their non-apprentice peers? Workers' compensation claims among journey level plumbers by apprenticeship participation

INTRODUCTION

Apprenticeships combine mentored on-the-job training with related instruction to develop a workforce with the skills sought by employers. Workplace safety is an important component of apprenticeship training. Whether that training results in fewer work injuries, however, is largely unknown.

METHOD

We linked Washington's registered apprenticeship data, plumber certification (licensing) data, employment data, and workers' compensation claims to compare claim rates among journey level plumbers (JLP) by apprenticeship participation. We used negative binomial regression models to estimate rates of total claims, wage replacement/disability claims, acute injuries, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), adjusted for worker characteristics.

RESULTS

Among JLP certified between 2000 and 2018, rates among JLP with no apprenticeship training were 46% higher for total workers' compensation claims (adjusted Rate Ratio (aRR) = 1.46, 95% CI: 1.26-1.69) and 60% higher for wage replacement/disability claims (aRR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.22-2.11), compared to rates among JLP who completed a plumbing apprenticeship. Apprentice graduates experienced a greater decline in the rate of total claims between the 5 years preceding JLP certification and the years after certification (55.3% vs. 41.4% among JLP with no apprenticeship training). Greater rate reductions among JLP apprentice graduates were also observed for acute injuries and MSD, although the decline in MSD was not significantly different from the decline among JLP with no apprenticeship training.

CONCLUSIONS

Successful completion of a plumbing apprenticeship program is associated with fewer work injuries throughout the career of a JLP. Apprenticeships appear to play a key role in reducing work injuries among JLP, especially acute injuries.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Apprenticeships are an effective model for reducing workplace injuries. The mechanisms by which apprenticeship training improves workplace safety should be identified to better inform injury prevention efforts among apprentices as well as among workers outside of a formal apprenticeship arrangement.

Procedural and anthropometric factors associated with musculoskeletal injuries among gastroenterology endoscopists

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries among gastroenterologists are common. Our study describes risk factors and consequences of injury by comparing provider-specific anthropometric and objective procedural data to self-reported injury patterns.

METHODS

A validated MSK symptom survey was sent to gastroenterologists to gauge prevalence, distribution, and severity of active injury. Respondents' procedural activities over 7 years were collected via an endoscopic database.

RESULTS

64 surveys were completed. 54 respondents had active pain; 53.1% reported activity-limiting injury. Activity-limiting injuries lead to longer colonoscopy times (25.3 vs. 22.1 min, P = 0.03) and lower procedural volumes (532 vs. 807, P = 0.01). Hand/wrist injuries yielded longer colonoscopy insertion times (9.35 vs. 8.21 min, P = 0.03) and less hands-on scope hours (81.2 vs. 111.7 h, P = 0.04). Higher esophagogastroduodenoscopy volume corelated with shoulder injury (336.5 vs. 243.1 EGDs/year, P = 0.04). Females had more foot injuries (P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

Activity-limiting MSK symptoms/injuries affect over 50% of endoscopists with negative impact on procedural volume and efficiency.

Relationship between occupational injury and gig work experience in Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional internet survey

This study evaluated the relationship between occupational injury risk and gig work, which included the exchange of labor for money between individuals or companies via digital platforms. As Japan has experienced a severe economic decline during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an increasing number of individuals have engaged in gig work. While few studies have evaluated occupational risks in gig work, several traffic accidents associated with food delivery gig work have been reported in the mass media. In this study, 18,317 individuals completed an internet survey that collected information pertaining to their involvement in gig work and experience of related occupational injuries; data regarding several confounding factors were also recorded. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that workers involved in gig work had a greater risk of any minor occupational injuries (odds ratio, 3.68; 95% confidence interval, 3.02-4.49) and activity-limiting injuries (odds ratio, 9.11; 95% confidence interval, 7.03-11.8) than those not involved in gig work, after adjusting for age, sex, household income, lifestyle factors, and work-related factors. The results of this study indicate that gig workers are exposed to greater occupational hazards during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional studies are warranted to clarify the causal mechanism for this relationship.

Risk factors and impacts of slips, trips, and falls in janitorial populations: A literature review

The objective of this paper is to analyze the existing literature to determine the scope and risk factors of slips, trips, and falls (STFs) within the janitorial population in order to make evidence-based recommendations to prevent these incidents in the future. Selected for review were published peer-reviewed articles, conference proceedings, and gray literature relating to STFs among janitors and cleaners. Individuals employed as janitors and cleaners, specifically those that were older than 45-years of age and/or female, represented the highest risk populations for STFs. These STFs result in injuries, such as sprains, strains, dislocations, and tears. Among janitors and cleaners, 30% of nonfatal incidents are attributed to STFs, resulting in a median of 11 days away from work. Both non-observable/human factors and observable/organizational factors contribute to STFs within this population and must be addressed to protect public health. Preventive interventions focused on comprehensive approaches that target observable and non-observable factors are needed to reduce STFs within the custodial population. More research is needed on STFs in the janitorial population to identify successful preventive STF interventions. Addressing the issue of STFs within this job classification will improve the overall health and well-being of janitors as well as reduce the indirect and direct economic burden placed on the employer organization.

Literacy and risk of occupational injury

OBJECTIVE

We examined whether low literacy skills are a risk factor for occupational injury during a 5.3-year follow-up period.

METHODS

The study population was taken from the Danish participants in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) in 2011/2012. Literacy skills were based on the PIAAC survey. Data on occupational injuries were obtained from national registers. We included the 5997 employees aged 16-65 who worked during the follow-up period. We used Cox regression to estimate the risk of occupational injury as a function of literacy skills. We adjusted the analysis for gender, age, nationality at birth, educational level, occupation, weekly work hours and month of survey completion.

RESULTS

Literacy skills were divided into four categories based on the six levels of skills in PIAAC. With the highest level of literacy skills as the reference (level 4/5), the hazard ratios for occupational injury were estimated at 1.58 (95% CI 0.80-3.15) for literacy level 3, 2.04 (95% CI 0.99-4.19) for literacy level 2 and 2.29 (95% CI 1.08-4.86) for literacy level 0/1.

CONCLUSION

Employees with a low level of literacy skills are at a higher risk of occupational injury than employees with a high level of literacy skills.

The impact of major occupational injuries on professional reintegration. A Portuguese medico-legal contribution

Occupational injuries represent an enormous economic impact for victims, respective families, involved institutions and all the community due to professional outcomes. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that medico-legal personal injury assessment and the posterior follow-up of these victims, may allow their concrete damage repair, considering the victims' needs fulfilment and professional reintegration, whenever possible. The main objective of this study is to reflect on the role that legal medicine can play in promoting the professional reintegration of victims of major occupational accidents through the analysis of occupational injuries cases considering the medico-legal examinations performed. A retrospective study was conducted using medico-legal major occupational injuries cases (Partial Permanent Disability ≥40%). Data were collected from two medico-legal assessment moments: (a) personal injury assessment homologated by a labour court 4.8 years on average after occupational injury; (b) medico-legal follow-up for needs and/or Partial Permanent Disability adjustments performed 18.9 years on average after occupational injury. The final sample includes 103 cases. The results showed that in major occupational accidents, permanent long-term outcomes were principally associated with neurological (62.1%) and orthopaedic (52.4%) sequelae. Permanent professional damage parameters assigned by the labour court included Partial Permanent Disability (23.3%), Permanent Absolute Disability for Regular Work (41.7%) and Permanent Absolute Disability for Any Work (35%). Three-dimensional methodology is helpful in predicting Partial Permanent Disability and Permanent Absolute Disability for Any Work. However, three-dimensional methodology did not reveal correlations with Permanent Absolute Disability for Regular Work, and currently 65% of the victims who were considered able to work by the labour court are not professionally active. Thus, these major cases deserve a more detailed medico-legal approach based on concrete information about the professional reality of each victim, especially cases with an eventual Permanent Absolute Disability for Regular Work. Medico-legal Injury Assessment must be based on concrete aspects of the victim's professional reality and not only on permanent disability tables. This calls for an articulation between all institutions working with the victim of occupational injuries and legal medicine to promote recovery and the necessary measures to assure professional rehabilitation.

Small Scale Enterprise Workers Require Attention: What Predicts the Level of Occupational Injuries?

BACKGROUND

Occupational injuries are among the foremost public health problems that small scale enterprise workers are encountering. Most foregoing occupational injury studies focused on construction or welding industry workers which could underestimate the real level of occupational injuries recorded in small scale enterprises. Conversely, others deal with a combined level of injuries from both small scale and large scale enterprises. Therefore, this study examined the magnitude and predictors of occupational injuries among various categories of small scale enterprise workers in Ambo town (Ethiopia).

METHODS

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was employed among 408 small scale enterprise workers from September to October 2021. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was computed to identify factors associated with occupational injuries. Variables with P-value less than .05 were considered as significantly associated with occupational injuries.

RESULTS

The 1-year prevalence of occupational injuries was 39.5% (95% CI: 35-44). Age greater than 40 years (AOR = 2.84, 95% CI: 1.53-5.28), working for more than 8 hours per day (AOR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.61-4.95), working during the night time (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.22-3.47), lack of workplace supervision (AOR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.23-5.28), alcohol use (AOR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.24-3.06), chewing khat (AOR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.27-3.2), non-utilization of personal protective equipment (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.03-2.87), and lack of health and safety training (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.26-4.37) were important predictors of occupational injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated a substantial proportion of small scale enterprise workers experienced occupational injuries during the last year. Provision of health and safety training, continuous workplace supervisions, and provision and utilization of personal protective equipment are recommended.

Work-related injuries among farm workers engaged in agricultural operations in India: a cross-sectional study

PURPOSE

We aim to investigate nature, risk factors as well as magnitude of farm injuries and fatalities among agricultural workers in rural India.

METHODS

An Agricultural Injury Study (AIS) was conducted using selected 1703 villages in eight states of rural India based on statistical consideration using unstructured proforma for 3086 victims/respodents, who were mostly agricultural workers or farmers. Injury incidence rate (IIR) was estimated per 1000 machines/tools per year for farm machinery and hand tools injuries, and per 100 000 workers per year for other sources. Questions about the injuries involved in farming tasks were used.

RESULTS

About 36.2% fatalities were caused by farm machinery that involves tractors. The IIR per year of farm machinery, hand tools and injuries due to other sources were 3.2 per 1000 machines, 0.7 per 1000 tools and 77 per 100 000 workers, respectively. Correlation between number of injury-prone agricultural machines and number of farm machinery injury is r=0.80 (number of injuries increases with increase in number of machines). The χ²=72.53; p<0.01 of number of hand tools and number of farm hand tools-related injuries, that is, they are statistically significant.

CONCLUSION

Exposures to agricultural machineries during farming operations can result in injuries confounding that may be fatal or non-fatal. Mapping down the cause and taking preventive measure to reduce the losses are of major concern. Also, customised safety programme as well as legislative awareness is needed to be raised for the higher injury incidence group.

Agricultural work-related fatalities and injuries in Punjab (India)

OBJECTIVE

Analysis of data on monetary compensation and estimating the rate of injuries related to agricultural activities in the state of Punjab.

METHODS

The primary data were collected from 22 districts of Punjab state for 2012-2015 through Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board, Mohali. Data were analysed for the nature of health hazards, type of injuries, possible causes and factors of injuries and their gender.

RESULTS

During the four consecutive years (2012-2015) an overall 5888 hazards cases related to agricultural activities were reported from the state, out of which 1993 (33.85%) were fatal and 3895 (66.15%) were non-fatal injuries. Among the fatal cases, the leading causes reported were due to electric motors (34.47%), poisoning through snake bites (21.48%), poisoning through pesticide applications with sprayers (19.62%) and crushed under/falling from the tractors and related equipment (13.50%). The annual fatality rate of the state of Punjab was estimated as 14.14 per 100 000 agricultural workers, while the overall injury incidence rate was observed as 39.57 per 100 000 agricultural workers.

CONCLUSIONS

Majority of agricultural work-related health hazards in Punjab were mainly due to negligence, lack of knowledge/experience, restlessness/sleeplessness, inadequate safety measures, over speed and wrong practices employed by the operator. There is a need for better ergonomic controls, work environments and practices for the prevention of injuries and health hazards related to agricultural activities.

Human Exposure to Hand-Arm Vibration from a Surgical Drill During Simulated Spine Surgery

OBJECTIVE

During spine surgery, surgeons are exposed to vibrations from surgical drills. Increased exposure to vibration can result in neurologic, vascular, and musculoskeletal impairments. To reduce these risks, occupational health standards have been implemented to limit exposure levels. The purpose of this study was to quantify human exposure to hand-arm vibration from a surgical drill during a simulation of a common spine procedure.

METHODS

Vibration measurements were collected during three 30-second surgical trials on a fresh frozen cadaver torso specimen using a standard surgical drill. The daily vibration exposure A(8) was evaluated on the basis of International Organization for Standardization 5349-1, and the occupational health standards, exposure action value, and exposure limit value were calculated.

RESULTS

On the basis of vibration exposure, surgeons in this study reached their exposure limits in 8 minutes to monitor tool usage and 32 minutes to terminate equipment usage.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate that a common surgical drill transmits hand-arm vibration levels approaching the exposure action value and exposure limit value over short periods of use. Further investigation is needed to determine the total vibration exposure over an entire workday, specifically in surgeons who perform multiple surgeries within a single day.

Relationship between age, workplace slips and the effectiveness of slip-resistant footwear among healthcare workers

Objectives

To explore any age-related trend in workplace slip rate and assess the effectiveness of appropriate slip-resistant footwear in preventing workplace slips by age.

Methods

Secondary data analysis of the Stopping Slips among Healthcare Workers trial, a two-arm randomised controlled trial conducted between March 2017 and May 2019. 4553 National Health Service (NHS) staff across seven sites in England were randomised 1:1 to the intervention group (provision of 5* GRIP-rated slip-resistant footwear) or the control group (usual work footwear). The primary outcome was self-reported workplace slips, ascertained primarily through weekly text messages throughout the 14-week trial follow-up and analysed using mixed-effects negative binomial regression. This paper reports a control group-only analysis of the association between age and slip rate, and a full intention-to-treat analysis of the effectiveness of slip-resistant footwear by age.

Results

The mean age of participants was 43 years (range 18–74). In the control group-only analysis, slip rate differed by age (p<0.001) with those aged 60+ having double the slip rate of those aged <30 years (95% CI 1.40 to 2.87). In the intention-to-treat analysis, the interaction between allocation and age was statistically significant (p=0.002). In addition, for all age groups except those aged <30 years, the slip rate in the intervention group was statistically significantly lower than the control group; the smallest incidence rate ratio (ie, the biggest effect) was 0.39 (95% CI 0.24 to 0.64) in the 60+ age group.

Conclusion

The provision of appropriate slip-resistant footwear was more effective at reducing workplace slips for older NHS staff.

Injury by design: A thematic networks and system dynamics analysis of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in tram drivers

Tram driving is a safety critical task where work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) and injuries are associated with interacting occupational design factors over time. These interactions then carry implications for workforce retention, public safety, workplace relations and supports. To better understand such interactions, this study used thematic networks and system dynamics (causal loop diagrams) analysis with the aim to unearth a global theme underscoring occurrence of WRMSDs, and describe the factors influencing the system dynamics of WRMSD occurrence in tram drivers. Building on earlier work focused on occupational participation, secondary analysis of driver interviews (n = 13) and driving observations (n = 11) produced thematic network and causal loop models of risk factors that highlighted an Injury by Design problem structure as a global theme. Research targeting organisational culture, human factors, and design standards is needed to minimise WRMSDs risk in tram drivers.

Factors associated with occupational accidents during part-time work among international students in Japan

This study investigated the status of and risk factors for occupational accidents occurring during part-time work among international students in Japan. In total, 390 international students who had registered with an online survey company were invited to participate in a cross-sectional study using an online self-administered questionnaire in October 2020. Multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate factors associated with accidents with absence from work. Among 311 participants, 126 (40.5%) had experienced an occupational accident at their part-time job in the past year, and 27 (8.7%) had lost working days because of accidents. The likelihood of accident with work absence was significantly higher among those with high income (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 4.39, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.57-12.24) and language barrier (adjusted OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.03-5.47). International students experienced occupational accidents relatively frequently. These results provide insight to guide occupational safety measures for migrants.

The Necessity for Improved Hand and Finger Protection in Mining

Injuries associated with hands and fingers are highly prevalent in mining and identifying factors associated with these injuries are critical in developing prevention efforts. This study identifies nonfatal injury incidence rates, nature of injury, work activities, glove usage, and sources of hand and finger injuries in the U.S. mining industry, as reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from 2011 - 2017. Hand and finger injuries occur at a rate of 6.53 per 1000 full-time employees, which is nearly double the rate of the next highest affected body part, the back. Most of the hand and finger injuries were classified as cuts/lacerations/punctures (53%) followed by bone fractures/chips (26%). Materials handling and maintenance/repair were common activities at the time of the incident with miscellaneous metals (pipe, wire, guarding) and hand tools as the primary sources of hand and finger injury. Although the information on glove use was limited, leather gloves were most often worn when an injury occurred. When worn, gloves were found to contribute to 20% of the injuries, indicating their potential to protect the hands, but also potentially put the hands at risk. Further research is necessary to determine performance requirements for gloves used in mining operations, specifically those offering cut and puncture resistance.

Protecting hospitals from SARS-CoV-2 infection: A review-based comprehensive strategy for COVID-19 prevention and control

SUMMARY

SARS-CoV-2-related infection can determine hospital-acquired infections among patients and healthcare workers. Aim of this paper was to review the literature for developing a strategy for protecting healthcare workers, patients, and visitors by COVID-19 hospital infection. A critical and rapid revision of the literature and international standards and Regulations on this topic allowed us to propose an evidencebased strategy in the framework of the workplace risk assessment for preventing nosocomial COVID-19 outbreaks. The virus' high transmissibility, the high prevalence of asymptomatic carriers and false-negative Covid-19 rates on naso- and oropharingeal swabs, put hospitals at high-risk of COVID-19 outbreaks. A comprehensive strategy based on standard precautions, administrative, environmental, and engineering controls, a screening protocol for patients on their admission to hospital, and a testing-based strategy for HCWs within health surveillance programs may prevent the onset of hospital outbreaks, which are a threat to community, patients and HCWs, compromising the sustainability of healthcare facilities.

The role of machine learning in the primary prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders: A scoping review

To determine the applications of machine learning (ML) techniques used for the primary prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), a scoping review was conducted using seven literature databases. Of the 4,639 initial results, 130 primary research studies were deemed relevant for inclusion. Studies were reviewed and classified as a contribution to one of six steps within the primary WMSD prevention research framework by van der Beek et al. (2017). ML techniques provided the greatest contributions to the development of interventions (48 studies), followed by risk factor identification (33 studies), underlying mechanisms (29 studies), incidence of WMSDs (14 studies), evaluation of interventions (6 studies), and implementation of effective interventions (0 studies). Nearly a quarter (23.8%) of all included studies were published in 2020. These findings provide insight into the breadth of ML techniques used for primary WMSD prevention and can help identify areas for future research and development.

Fit Factor Change on Quantitative Fit Testing of Duckbill N95 Respirators with the Use of Safety Goggles

N95 respirators and safety goggles are important components of personal protective equipment to reduce the spread of airborne infections, such as COVID-19, among healthcare workers. Poor N95 respirator seal may reduce its protective effect, thereby increasing transmission. Quantitative fit testing is an established way of assessing the N95 respirator fit, which provides a quantitative measure for seal, called the fit factor. Duckbill N95 respirators frequently fail the fit test. We hypothesized that using safety goggles with a wraparound elastic headband will increase their fit-factor by reinforcing the seal between the face and the upper margin of the respirator. We studied the effect of safety goggles with a wraparound elastic headband (3M™ Chemical Splash Resistant Goggles, ID 70006982741) on the fit factor of two types of Duckbill N95 respirators (Halyard FLUIDSHIELD*3, Model 99SA070M, and ProShield® N95 Model TN01-11) in 63 healthy volunteers in a nonrandomized, before-and-after intervention study design. The mean fit factor increased from 69.4 to 169.1 increased from 17/63 (27%) to 46/63 (73%) after the intervention (p <0.0001, OR 3 [95% CI = 4.9–1223]). This is the first study to explore the impact of safety goggles on N95 respirator fit. We conclude that the use of safety goggles with a wraparound elastic headband increases the fit factor of the tested Duckbill N95 respirators.

Association between nicotine dependency with occupational injury in Korean men

Background

The relationship between smoking status or second-hand smoking and occupational injuries has been the subject of considerable study, but few have studied the relationship between nicotine dependence and occupational injuries. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between nicotine dependence and occupational injury among employees at a range of Korean companies.

Methods

Initially, the personal and occupational characteristics and nicotine dependences of workers were measured, and 12 months later a survey was used to determine whether subjects had experienced any occupational injury. This study was conducted in several workplaces on 6,893 male workers in manufacturing and service industries that received health screening at Inha University Hospital in Incheon.

Results

The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of occupational injury in the low, moderate, and high nicotine dependence groups were 1.38 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04-1.84), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.10-2.10), and 1.71 (95% CI: 0.92-3.19), respectively. For smokers only, adjusted ORs tended to increase linearly (p for trend < 0.05). When only smokers were included, analysis of continuous FTND (Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence) scores showed that adjusted OR increased by 1.10 (95% CI: 1.03-1.19) per FTND point. After stratifying the data by working type and working hours per week, the non-shift work group maintained this relationship (OR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.04-1.24) and OR was higher in the group that works more than 60 hours per week with FTND score as a continuous variable (OR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.07-1.44).

Conclusions

The study shows nicotine dependency might affect occupational injury. From a short-term perspective, addressing worker's nicotine dependence by giving an adequate break time or smoking area might reduce work-related injuries.

Relationship between fatigue severity scale and occupational injury in Korean workers

Background

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between fatigue and occupational injury.

Methods

This study was conducted at a university hospital in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, the fatigue severity scale (FSS) was used to evaluate workers' fatigue levels. Later, when the same workers were examined in 2015, a questionnaire survey was conducted to determine whether they had experienced absences or treatment for work-related accidents. The χ² test was used to analyse the relationship between demographic characteristics, fatigue levels, and occupational injuries. After controlling for confounders, a logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate the odds ratios (ORs).

Results

In 2014, 19,218 workers were screened during health examination and their fatigue level were evaluated using FSS questionnaires. in 2015, workers' occupational injury was evaluated. In result, men in the moderate- and high-fatigue groups, after adjusting for age, smoking and drinking habits, chronic diseases, and occupational factors such as size of company industrial classification and type of work (shift or non-shift), adjusted ORs for hospital treatment due to occupational injury were 1.76 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.39–2.24) and 2.61 (95% CI:1.68–4.06), respectively. Among men in the medium- and high-fatigue groups, the adjusted ORs for absence due to occupational injury were 2.06 (95% CI: 1.52–2.80) and 3.65 (95% CI: 2.20–6.05), respectively. No significant association was observed between fatigue and occupational injury in women.

Conclusions

Male workers with high fatigue levels have a higher risk of experiencing work injuries. This study suggests that active intervention be considered to prevent injuries in workers with high scores on workplace fatigue evaluation scales.

Higher body mass index and body fat percentage correlate to lower joint and functional strength in working age adults

As the prevalence of obesity grows worldwide, it becomes an increasing concern in working populations. Ergonomists are faced with the challenge of accommodating workplace layouts to include this worker demographic. This study investigated the relationship between shoulder and low back isometric joint strengths across body mass index (BMI) groups. Additionally, relationships between body fat percentage (BF%), absolute strength, and strength normalized to body mass were examined. Ninety, healthy, working age participants performed 11 functional and isometric joint strength exertions. BMI group influenced normalized strength, as the obese 2+ (BMI >35.0) group had up to 63.1% lower joint strength than all other BMI groups (p < 0.05). Significant strong to moderate negative linear relationships existed between BF% and normalized strength for both males and females, and relationships were stronger for females. These strength deficits highlight the importance of considering body composition during ergonomics analyses and configuration of occupational tasks.

Prevalence of occupational injury and determination of safety climate in small scale manufacturing industry: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Occupational injuries are among the most important workplace issues. This study aims to determine the safety climate and prevalence of occupational injuries in the small-scale manufacturing industry.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study with ten small scale manufacturers participated accounting for a total of 300 respondents. Data were collected from July to August 2020 using the NOSACQ-50 questionnaire.

RESULTS

The prevalence of occupational injury for the past 12 months was at 18%. The most often injured body parts were hands and legs while among the most common injury types were open wound, burns and bleeding. The mean NOSACQ-50 scores for all dimensions are good. The associated factors are working hours per week, and compliance to SOP. There are differences in the mean scores of NOSACQ-50 between injured and non-injured workers across all dimensions.

CONCLUSION

The safety climate among manufacturing industry employees is at a good level, while the prevalence of occupational injury is relatively low.

Non-fatal occupational accidents in Brunei Darussalam

Globally, ILO estimates 374 million non-fatal and 380,500 fatal by occupational accidents annually. Slips, trips, falls and contact with objects are the leading mode of injury, with extremities being the most common body part involved. Occupational accidents are of major concern for high risk occupational groups such as migrant workers, or work areas e.g. construction, manufacturing, wholesale, and retail industries. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of non-fatal occupational injuries and its trends among industry workers in Brunei Darussalam. A retrospective cross-sectional review of occupational accidents notified to the Occupational Health Division, Ministry of Health, over a five-year period from January 2014 until December 2018 was conducted. A total of 424 non-fatal occupational accidents were notified, with increasing trend from 44 in 2014 to 132 in 2018. Accidents were more common in males (98%), migrant workers (86%), in the 30-39 age group (42.5%), and in the construction industry (56.4%). Struck by object (37.7%) was the commonest cause and upper limb (43.9%) was the commonest body part involved. There is a need for workplaces to develop capabilities and support mechanisms for risk assessments, as well as auditing and reviewing performances to minimize occurrence of preventable occupational injuries.

Risk assessment of educational support staff's work in schools

BACKGROUND

Educational support staff (educational staff) in schools perform widely distinctive activities according to their occupation and work process.

OBJECTIVE

This study analyzes the possible incidents for each occupation and work process, and suggests a risk matrix prioritizing the risks of educational staff's work.

METHODS

A total of 1,566 injuries of educational staff, registered for occupational injuries and illnesses between 2015 and 2016, were used to develop the risk matrix considering injuries, sick leave days, and disabilities.

RESULTS

Among the 1,566 injuries, 'Cook-cooking/serving: Burn' (8.5%) was the most frequent incident. 'Cook-manual materials handling (MMH): musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)' (241.6 sick leave days) was the most severe incident, and the number of disabilities was high in the forms of 'Cook-cooking/serving: MSDs.' According to risk assessment results, possible incidents predicted as 'High' level of risk management were in the forms of 'Cook-cooking/serving: MSDs,' 'Cook-MMH: Slip and trip,' 'Cook-cleaning/repairing: Fall from a height,' 'Cook-walking: Slip and trip,' 'Cook-MMH: MSDs,' 'Cook-cooking/serving: Burn,' 'Cook-cleaning/repairing: Slip and trip,' 'Custodian-cleaning/repairing: Fall from a height,' and 'Instructor-walking: Slip and trip.'

CONCLUSIONS

The results can be used to develop an effective injury prevention policy, and to allocate resources for risk management in ensuring school safety.

Union, employer and compensation system gaps and failures: Workers with injuries perceptions

BACKGROUND

Workers who suffered a workplace injury and submitted a claim with the compensation board in Ontario often faced economic and non-economic costs that provoked depressive feelings, family strain, financial strain, and feelings of diminished self-worth.

OBJECTIVE

This qualitative descriptive study aimed to understand the perceived gaps and failures associated with the support systems (e.g., union, compensation and employer) that were in place to assist some male underground workers in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, who had suffered a workplace injury and had a compensation claim.

METHODS

Twelve in-depth, in-person, individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were transcribed verbatim and anonymized at the time of transcription. Data analysis followed Braun and Clarke's guidelines for thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Themes that emerged include: unfair and inadequate recognition of an injury; limited communication with stakeholders involved with their claim, including claim adjudicators, challenges when returning to work, and compensation claim system barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

Cooperation, collaboration, knowledge transfer, and decreased power imbalances could help to reduce the economic and non-economic strain felt by a worker with an injury. Additionally, a government-funded third-party advocate who knows the medical system, union contracts, the workers' compensation system, and employer policies and practices could act on behalf of an injured worker.

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.

The psychosocial work environment, musculoskeletal disorders and their functional consequences among pediatric healthcare providers

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to examine the association between aspects of the psychosocial work environment and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and associated functional consequences among pediatric healthcare providers.

BACKGROUND

The psychosocial work demands make pediatric care providers susceptible to MSDs and subsequent functional consequences, but research on this at-risk group is lacking.

METHODS

Randomly selected pediatric registered nurses, behavioral health specialists, and patient care assistants (N = 569) completed a survey assessing psychosocial factors, MSDs, and functional consequences (e.g., missing work). Logistic regression was used to assess associations between psychosocial factors and outcomes.

RESULTS

The analysis yielded moderate-to-strong, significant associations between psychosocial environment factors and MSDs and their functional consequences. The odds of MSDs increased nearly three-fold in the highest quartile of the psychosocial summary score vs. the lowest (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.6-4.5). The highest quartiles of the psychosocial environment measures were significantly associated with functional consequences of MSDs.

CONCLUSION

Results confirm knowledge about the association between the psychosocial environment and MSDs and demonstrates the association also exists among pediatric providers. Our study highlights the importance of studying the functional consequences of MSDs, which characterize the impact of MSD burden at work and elsewhere.

Using hospitalization data for injury surveillance in agriculture, forestry and fishing: a crosswalk between ICD10CM external cause of injury coding and The Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System

BACKGROUND

While statistics related to occupational injuries exist at state and national levels, there are notable difficulties with using these to understand non-fatal injuries trends in agriculture, forestry, and commercial fishing. This paper describes the development and testing of a crosswalk between ICD-10-CM external cause of injury codes (E-codes) for agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) and the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS). By using this crosswalk, researchers can efficiently process hospitalization data and quickly assemble relevant cases of AFF injuries useful for epidemiological tracking.

METHODS

All 6810 ICD-10-CM E- codes were double-reviewed and tagged for AFF- relatedness. Those related to AFF were then coded into a crosswalk to OIICS. The crosswalk was tested on hospital data (inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department) from New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont using SAS9.3. Injury records were characterized by type of event, source of injury, and by general demographics using descriptive epidemiology.

RESULTS

Of the 6810 E-codes available in the ICD-10-CM scheme, 263 different E-codes were ultimately classified as 1 = true case, 2 = traumatic/acute and suspected AFF, or 3 = AFF and suspected traumatic/acute. The crosswalk mapping identified 9969 patient records either confirmed to be or suspected to be an AFF injury out of a total of 38,412,241 records in the datasets, combined. Of these, 963 were true cases of agricultural injury. The remaining 9006 were suspected AFF cases, where the E-code was not specific enough to assign certainty to the record's work-relatedness. For the true agricultural cases, the most frequent combinations presented were contact with agricultural/garden equipment (301), non-roadway incident involving off-road vehicle (222), and struck by cow or other bovine (150). For suspected agricultural cases, the majority (68.2%) represent animal-related injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

The crosswalk provides a reproducible, low-cost, rapid means to identify and code AFF injuries from hospital data. The use of this crosswalk is best suited to identifying true agricultural cases; however, capturing suspected cases of agriculture, forestry, and fishing injury also provides valuable data.

Perspectives of parents of working adolescents in Ontario, Canada

Background

More than half of adolescents have jobs in summer or sometime during the year. While employers are ultimately responsible for their safety, parents are often important in helping their children navigate the work environment. Our study examines the attitudes, beliefs and types of involvement parents have in their children’s work.

Methods

We modeled a telephone survey of 507 English-speaking parents of working adolescents in Ontario, Canada on a US study and examined their perspectives, comparing to earlier findings from the U.S. parents.

Results

Most Ontario parents helped their teens consider questions to ask about work, for example, work hours (90.7%) and job tasks (78.2%) and fewer about workplace safety (57.9%). Parents overall were concerned about their teens, especially younger teens, getting behind on schoolwork (69.3%), being rushed on the job (60.1%) and doing hazardous tasks (58.3%) or working alone (51.9%), or being at work during a robbery (74.5%). Parents of 14–17-year-old daughters were more concerned about their child being assaulted than were parents of sons (62.4% vs. 51.4%), particularly if the teen was in the 18–19 age group (74.3% vs. 52.5%). Half the parents indicated 10–19 h per week was the right amount of work time for their teen, and most agreed that laws should limit the number of hours of youth work.

Conclusions

Overall, Ontario parents appear to be more concerned about the safety and also more involved in the work of their adolescent children than U.S. parents previously surveyed. Parents are engaged with their children about their work and may serve as valuable assets to helping to advocate for safe work policies and environments.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-10377-9.

Effect of professional certification on employees' return-to-work rate after occupational injuries in Korea: focusing on vulnerable groups

Background

One effective way to improve return-to-work (RTW) performance may be to convince the employer that the worker has the necessary skills. The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of having a professional certification among workers injured in occupational injuries on their return to work.

Methods

The Panel Study of Workers’ Compensation Insurance (PSWCI) targets workers who completed medical care in 2012 after an occupational injury. The study population (n = 2000) was stratified by gender, age, region, disability grade, and rehabilitation service use. A total of 1458 workers were finally selected for this study.

The effect of having a certification on RTW status was calculated with an odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals using binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses. In the binomial logistic regression analysis, the RTW group was made up as a combination of the return to original work and the reemployment groups.

Results

The ORs of RTW among those with a certification compared to those without certification were 1.38 (1.16–1.65) in Model 1, 1.25 (1.05–1.50) in Model 2, and 1.22 (1.01–1.47) in Model 3. Among female workers with a certification, the OR of RTW was 4.60 (2.68–7.91), that of return to original work was 3.21 (1.74–5.91), and that of reemployment was 5.85 (3.34–10.27). Among daily workers with a certification, the OR of RTW was 1.32 (1.03–1.69) and that of reemployment was 1.37 (1.07–1.76).

Conclusion

In conclusion, injured workers with a certification generally had a higher RTW rate. In particular, the RTW rate was higher among female workers and daily workers with a certification than among those without.

12-Year longitudinal study linking within-person changes in work and family transitions and workplace injury risk

INTRODUCTION

Despite the rich tradition of research on predictors of workplace injury, most studies rely on cross-sectional, between-person designs. Furthermore, prior research has often overlooked the possibility that factors outside the work domain can influence the occurrence of actual injuries at work. To address these limitations, the current study examined the effects of work and family demands on the occurrence of workplace injury. Drawing on the intuition of the work-home resources model (W-HR), we investigated how within-person level changes in demands and resources from both domains influence work injuries over a 12-year period.

METHOD

We used 12 years of longitudinal data (N = 7,820) to study the long-term within-person changes in work and family domains and to capture the event of low frequency incidence such as workplace injury. Specifically, we conducted multilevel analyses to study the links between within-person change in time and energy resources both in work and family domains and within-person change in the likelihood of experiencing a workplace injury.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

The findings showed that within-person changes in work hours, spousal work hours, income and number of children, were significantly associated with changes in the likelihood of experiencing a workplace injury. We conclude with a discussion of implications for theory and future research of workplace injuries. Practical application: The research provided useful insights on the intimate association between work and family domains in the context of safety management.

Comparison of work-related traffic crashes between male taxi drivers aged ≥65 years and <65 years in South Korea

BACKGROUND

The percentage of drivers aged ≥65 years among all Korean taxi drivers has risen sharply from 3.2% in 2006 to 22.0% in 2016.

OBJECTIVE

This study compared the characteristics of work-related traffic crashes between male taxi drivers aged ≥65 years and <65 years.

METHODS

Using the national compensation data of South Korea, 586 injured male taxi drivers were analyzed based on driver-related (work experience, company size, employment status, injured body part, and injury type) and crash-related factors (time and day of the crash, weather condition, road type, violation and drowsiness) by age group.

RESULTS

For the injured drivers aged ≥65, percentages of the crashes related to some factors were lower than those of the drivers aged <65 years: at night (55.2% vs. 64.0%), on rainy or snowy day (7.8% vs. 21.3%), on straight road (40.5% vs 50.9%) and on the expressway (6.9% vs. 13.0%). However, the percentage of the crashes related to a violation for the injured drivers aged ≥65 years (23.3%) was higher than that of the drivers aged <65 years (13.4%). Furthermore, the taxi drivers aged ≥65 years had a higher death rate (14.7%) than the drivers aged <65 years (8.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

The results can be useful for injury prevention policies and guidelines for elderly taxi drivers such as strengthened qualification tests for the aged drivers and improvement of the working environment.

Associations of job-related hazards and personal factors with occupational injuries at continuous miner worksites in underground coal mines: a matched case-control study in Indian coal mine workers

A wide range of job-related hazards and personal factors may be associated with injury occurrences at continuous miner worksites but their role has been little documented. To address this issue, a case-control study in India was conducted to compare 135 workers with an injury during the previous 2-yr period and 270 controls without injury during the previous 5-yr period (two controls for each injured worker, matched on age and occupation). Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using standardized questionnaire and analyzed using conditional logistic regression models. We found that the injury occurrences were multifactorial and associated with hand tool-related hazards (adjusted odds ratio/ORa=3.69, p<0.01), working condition-related hazards (ORa=3.11, p<0.01), continuous miner-related hazards (ORa=1.95, p<0.05), and shuttle car-related hazards (ORa=6.95, p<0.001), along with big family size, no-formal education, and presence of disease (adjusted odds ratios varying between 2 to 4). Stratified analyses showed that among the 36-60 yr-old workers, hand tool-related hazards, working condition-related hazards, and shuttle car-related hazards had significant ORa (6.62, 4.38 and 15.65, respectively with p<0.01,) while among the younger workers, only shuttle car-related hazards had significant ORa (4.25, p<0.05). These findings may help to understand the risk patterns of injuries and to implement appropriate prevention strategies.

Interventions to improve ergonomics in the operating theatre: A systematic review of ergonomics training and intra-operative microbreaks

Musculoskeletal occupational injury is prevalent within the surgical community. This is a multi-factorial issue, but is contributed to by physical posture, environmental hazards and administrative deficiency. There is growing awareness of this issue, with several behavioural, educational and administrative techniques being employed. The literature on this topic is, however, sporadic and difficult to access by healthcare practitioners. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the literature on the current interventions used to minimise musculoskeletal occupational injury in surgeons and interventionalists. This review will focus on administrative and human factor interventions, such as intra-operative microbreaks and ergonomics training.