Introduction: The coir industry processes fibers from coconuts and is important for a high number of people in Sri Lanka. Coir workers handle several dangerous machines. This project has studied occupational injuries among coir workers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in six medium-sized coir industries in Sri Lanka, each with 15-100 employees. The workers who were present at work on the two days the researchers visited the respective industries (128 of total 214 workers) were interviewed on socio-demographics, work tasks they normally perform and occupational injuries they had experienced in the last three months. Independent T-tests and Chi-square tests were used to analyze for differences between groups. Results: The mean age of the 128 interviewed workers was 45 years and 53.9% were male. Totally 34 (26.6%) of the workers had experienced at least one injury each during the past three months. Women reported significantly more injuries than men (38.9% vs 15.9%). The workers operating machines reported significantly more injuries than workers who performed other types of work (42.3% vs 22.0%). Slipped, tripped, and fall (64%) were the most common events of injury seen among the injured workers followed by cuts by sharp objects or machines (20%). The most common type of injury among the workers reporting injuries were cuts and bruises (50%). Conclusion: More than one-fourth of the workers reported to have been injured in the last three months, indicating a high injury risk. This raises concerns and highlights the need for preventative measures to minimize risks.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.