PREVALENCE OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURY AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG BUILDING CONSTRUCTION WOREKERS IN DESSIE TOWN, NORTH EAST ETHIOPIA; 2018

Abstract

Abstract Background: Occupational injury is any personal injury resulting from an occupational accident sustained on worker in connection with the performance of his or her work. Workers in the construction industries are at risk of occupational accidents, injuries and diseases. More than 60,000 occupational injuries occur in construction sectors annually. In Dessie town, Construction worker injuries are growing concerns for the reason of increasing infrastructure investments. The finding of this study was useful to minimize the current problem. Objectives: to assess the prevalence of occupational injury and associated factors among building construction workers in Dessie town, northeast Ethiopia. Methods: Institution based cross sectional and triangulated with qualitative approaches was conducted on 374 building construction workers in Dessie town Northeast Ethiopia from March to April 2018. Simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants among 9 licensed building construction industries. Quantitative data was collected by face to face interview. The data was first entered by EPi Info version 3.5.4and exported to SPSS 20 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable analysis was employed to see the effect of each explanatory variable on the dependent variable. Three Focus group discussions were used to collect qualitative data. Content analysis was performed for focus group discussion Result: The prevalence of occupational injury was 32.6%95% CI (27.8-37.4). Male workers [AOR: 1.775, 95%CI, (1.108-2.844))], uneducated (AOR: 3.327, 95%CI (1.262- 8.771), training [AOR: 2.053, 95%CI (1.004-4.195) and Uses of PPE [AOR: 2.076, 95%CI (1.253-3.439) were factors significantly associated with Occupational injury. In focus group discussions negligence of the workers and lack of awareness are significant factors for injury Conclusion: Occupational injury was high among construction workers. Sex, Educational status, Safety training, Personal protective equipment were statically significantly associated with Occupational injury. Keyword: Prevalence, Occupational injury, building constructions workers