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

Abstract

BackgroundThe construction industry is one of the most hazardous working areas, where the highest number of labourers engaged. However, the predisposing factors for occupational injury in the construction sites in Ethiopia are not well investigated. This study was, therefore, conducted to assess the magnitude of occupational injury and associated factors among construction workers in Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 566 construction workers. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select study subjects. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and observation checklist. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify variables significantly associated with occupational injury on the basis of adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and p < 0.05.ResultsThe overall prevalence of work-related injury in 3 months prior to the survey was found to be 39% (95% CI = 35.0–43.1%). The occurrence of occupational injury was associated with single workers [AOR = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.25, 0.97], longer service year [AOR = 2.79, 95% CI = 1.72–4.53], poor attention to work [AOR = 2.65, 95% CI = 1.33, 5.29], working with vibrating hand tools [AOR = 3.23, 95% CI = 1.19, 8.76], no aware about occupational hazards [AOR = 4.66, 95% CI = 1.99, 10.87], and alcohol consumption [AOR = 3.16, 95% CI = 2.09, 4.79].ConclusionHigh prevalence of occupational injury was reported in the study area. Cut and fall were the leading causes. Marital status, service year, attention to work, use of vibrating hand tools, awareness about occupational hazards, and drinking alcohol were identified as factors associated with occupational injury. Therefore, health and safety trainings have to be taken place to aware workers about occupational injury and safety issues. Regular workplace supervision and provision of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) are also needed to prevent occupational injury. The findings of this study are useful to design and implement injury prevention strategies in the country. The study also contributes to the current literature as health and safety information is limited, especially in developing countries.

On-Site Personal Protective Equipment Signage and Use by Road Construction Workers in Ghana: A Comparative Study of Foreign- and Locally-Owned Companies

“…Twenty percent of the workers they studied were female [8]. Although construction work is usually considered as male dominated [15], the proportion of female construction workers in the other studies in East Africa ranged from 24-48% [9,11,12]. The current study had a much smaller proportion of women (3.1%).…”

“…Subjectively, many contractors indicated that they felt investing in PPE was not warranted. There have been several other studies that reported PPE use and other aspects of safety among building construction workers in Africa [8][9][10][11][12]. Alemu et al interviewed 206 building construction workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.…”

“…Occupational safety and health is less developed in low-and middle income countries (LMICs) than in high income countries [7]. In particular as regards construction safety in Africa, there have been only a small number of studies, primarily from East Africa and on building construction [8][9][10][11][12]. Gebremeskel and Yimer found a high annual prevalence of injury (33%), but also found that safety training and use of PPE lowered risk of injury [9].…”

Work related injury and its disparity across selected occupations in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Characteristics Of Original Articles In this study to estimate the pooled magnitude of work related injury a total of 8025 workers from MSWM, construction and textile industry were involved. Concerning geographical distribution of the studies, the 17 studies were obtained from the four regions of the country: six studies from Addis Ababa (10,19,(21)(22)(23)30), three from Oromia (24,27,29), seven (7) from Amhara (11,17,18,20,25,26,28), and one from Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) (29). The highest prevalence of occupational injury and illness (84.7%) was reported in Addis Ababa (10) whereas the lowest prevalence (31.4%) was reported from a study done in Arba Minch (SNNPR) (9).…”

“…Lastly the pooled odds of work related injury among those workers using PPE was 52% less than those who did not use PPE at work place (0.48 (95%CI: 0.36, 0.65)). To calculate the pooled odds ratio of alcohol drinking habit (9,11,17,18,26,28,30,31), cigarette smoking habit (18,24,26,30,31), khat chewing habit (9, 22, 26-28, 30, 31), work related stress (9,20,26,29,30), level of education (9,11,18,24,26,30,31), and use of PPE (9,11,18,19,22,26,27,(29)(30)(31) reports of a minimum of 5 to 10 studies were included.…”