Profile, risk factors and outcome of occupational injuries reported to the emergency department in a tertiary care hospital in South India

Abstract

Background: India is an industrialised country and most work is labour intensive. There is very scarce data on occupation related injuries Aim: To evaluate the prevalence, profile, severity and risk factors for occupational injuries presenting to the emergency medicine department of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done in the emergency department of Christian Medical College, Vellore among the patients who presented with occupational injuries. The risk factors for occupational injuries like age, gender, shift work, work experience and type of work and their severity and outcome were evaluated. Results: Older age group, working in shift duty, working longer hours were significant risk factors for occupational injuries. Conclusion: Training and use of safety protective measures will decrease occupational injuries.

Proportion of Occupational Eye Injuries and Their Risk Factors: A Single-Center Study

“…Those patients with history of occupational eye accident before, had higher risk of occupational eye injuries (AOR: 8.4) (Table 2) , and this agreed with that detected in Italy where the workers with previous occupational eye injury were at potential risk for new eye injuries (Gobba et al, 2017). Similarly, a study in India found that the workers proneness to occupational injuries increased with previous ones (Regina et al, 2020) .…”

Analysis of Injuries and Deaths by Trauma Scores due to Occupational Accidents

“…[ 8 ] Similarly, mostly (86%) males suffered from occupational accidents in South India. [ 5 ] The majority of the victims (73.10–97.50%) injured due to occupational accidents in Turkey were male. [ 10 – 15 ] This was related to the fact that men were more involved in work and worked more in heavy jobs.…”

“…In Southern India, the abdomen and pelvis were the most frequently injured body parts in traumatic work accidents (36%). [ 5 ] In Northern Italy, the predominant area of injury in fatal occupational accidents was the head (33.56%). [ 1 ] Upper extremity injury (50%) was seen at a higher rate than other body parts in Glasgow, England.…”

“…In Southern India, the most frequent occupational injuries occurred in quarries (27%) and constructions (20%). [ 5 ] While some studies reported that occupational accidents were most common in the construction sector (28.7–40%) in Turkey,[ 16 , 18 ] as well as some studies reported that they occurred in the machinery-automobile sector (22%),[ 15 ] the service sector (44%),[ 13 ] and the metal-machinery sector (23.1–30.1%). [ 14 , 21 ] In this study, occupational accidents occurred most frequently in the food industry (n=1256, 34.90%) and the metal industry (n=544, 15.10%).…”

“…[ 3 ] Young and older age group, shift work, long working hours, male gender, lack of formal education, frequent alcohol consumption, and low work experience were defined as important risk factors for occupational accidents. [ 4 , 5 ] Occupational accidents may cause serious morbidity and mortality, economic burden, lower living standards of victims, and long-term psychological effects. [ 6 – 8 ] Although it is very difficult to eliminate occupational accidents, most occupational accidents may be prevented with simple precautions.…”