Prevalence and determinants of work related injuries among small and medium scale industry workers in Bahir Dar Town, north west Ethiopia

OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence and determinants of work-related injuries among small and medium scale industrial workers in Bahir Dar town, northwest Ethiopia. METHOD Cross sectional comparative study design was used. Purposive sampling method was used to choose the specific Kebele 14 of the study area, for its relatively high number of industries. The study units were stratified into small and medium scale industries. All workers who were available at the time of interview were included in the study. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analyzed using SPSS for windows 16.0. RESULT A total of 328 and 655 workers from small and medium-scale industries respectively participated in the study. Seven hundred sixty nine (78.2%) were males. Three hundred thirty six workers (34.2%) reported that they had experienced work-related injuries. Sex, monthly salary, age, work experience and use of personal protective equipment were found to be different in the small and medium industries (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION There was a high prevalence of work related injuries. Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, personal work behavior and the working environment have contributed for the injuries. Work-related injuries are assumed to be preventable with the provision of occupational health programs in workplaces. Thus it is recommended that the owners of industries need to focus on training and installing safer work environment and Further studies with large-scale coverage and prospective study designs are warranted.