The Magnitude of Occupational Injury and Associated Factors among Factory Workers in Ethiopia; The case of Mugher Cement Factory

Abstract

Back Ground: Throughout the world, occupational exposure to cement dust and noise continue to cause serious public health hazard and one of the leading causes of disability and disease among workers.

Objectives: The study investigated the prevalence and associated factors of occupational injuries(injuries that occur at a person's workplace which can include exposure to chemicals or other  substances) among cement factory workers in Mugher.

Methodology: The sampling frame was obtained from Mugher cement factory. An institution based cross sectional study was conducted using stratified random sampling. The data was collected, edited, entered in to a computer using Epi Info version 3.5.0 then exported to SPSS version 21 and cleaned. Bivariate analysis & multivariate analysis was done. All employees who were directly engaged in the production process within the study period & had been working for at least one year in the selected factory irrespective of gender were included

Results: The prevalence of occupational injury in one year was 10.4%. In addition, 1356 working days were lost as a result of 52 work related injuries. Thirty seven (71.2%) employees were hospitalized, accounting for 51.4% hospitalization for more than 24 hours, 18(34.6%) were absent from work for 15-30 days. The significant contributing factor for occupational injuries was job category. Workers in the cement production were 74.7% less likely to experience occupational injury than workers in the clinker production [AOR= 0.25, C.I : (0.100-0.639)].

Conclusion and Recommendation: Most of the world's work - related deaths, injuries and illnesses are preventable. The prevalence of occupational injury was high. Preventive measures like provision of adequate and quality safety materials timely and work place supervision should get focus.