Association of occupation and safety practices with work-injury absence among public hospital employees in Latin America: a study from Costa Rica

Abstract

Background: Injury-related statistics in developing countries are rare. Objective: To assess the relationship between occupational and safety-related risk factors and absences from work during the preceding 6 months due to work-related injury among public hospital employees in Costa Rica. Methods: Data were used from a cross-sectional survey conducted in December 2000 among a stratified random sample of 1000 employees from 10 of the 29 public hospitals in Costa Rica. The questionnaire included sociodemographic data, occupational exposures, and organizational risk factors. A dichotomous variable was created to indicate work-injury absence. At-risk employees (n = 466) were classified as having had a work-injury absence if they reported having been absent for at least 1 day in the preceding 6 months because of a work-related injury. OR and 95% CI were calculated using unconditional logistic regression models.Results: There is a greater likelihood of injury-related absence in non-professional occupational positions (ie, auxiliary personnel (OR = 2.29) and general services employees (OR = 5.55)) than in professional positions, and in employees who show poor compliance with safety practices (OR = 2.03) and have high interference from their job task (OR = 3.79) compared with their counterparts. Conclusions: Work-injury absence appears not only to be a function of work injury, but also a function of occupation and degree of compliance with safety practices.

Workplace Psychosocial Factors Associated with Work-Related Injury Absence: A Study from a Nationally Representative Sample of Korean Workers

“…Even with the 6-month longer survey period in this study, the cumulative injury absence rate is still lower than the rates (7–27 %) reported in a previous study using the same injury absence definition [2]. The discrepancies are mostly likely attributed to the different working populations studied.…”

“…Factors affecting absence resulting from work-related injuries are not given that much attention [1, 2] because the focus may be on severity or rate of injury in preventing work-related injuries [3]. As the working population is aging and the economic burden for workplace injuries is increasing in developed countries, focuses on preventing work-related injuries should include injury work absence and related costs [3].…”

“…Additionally, they have been associated with overstrain injuries, such as musculoskeletal disorders [9–14]. Few psychosocial factors, such as safety practices and social isolation, have been studied for their relationship to injury absence [1, 2]. Some studies focused on psychosocial factors influencing the duration of disability and return-to-work after injury [15, 16].…”

Absenteeism amongst health workers – developing a typology to support empiric work in low-income countries and characterizing reported associations

“…In Sweden, Josephson et al [43] found that nurses dissatisfied with the quality of care provided to patients had higher probability of being on long-term sickness absence. Interference with safety requirements was reported to expose Costa Rican health workers to work-injury absence [52]. Work schedules and terms of contract have been identified as factors that could influence a health worker’s presence or absence from work.…”

The association between nonstandard work and occupational injury in Korea

“…The incidence of occupational injury varies according to the characteristics of the injured workers such as the type of shift work, socioeconomic position, working conditions, occupation and safety practices, and if the person is a foreign worker and young worker [Horwitz and McCall, 2004;Cole et al, 2005;Ahonen and Benavides, 2006;Benavides et al, 2006;d'Errico et al, 2007;Gimeno et al, 2007]. Also, the age of workers, gender, length of work hours, and the workplace size are associated with occupational injury [Aaltonen, 1996;Jackson, 2001;Dong, 2005;Runyan et al, 2007].…”