Prevalence and Associated Factors of Occupational Injuries among Building Construction Workers in Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Occupational injury is defined as a type of injury that can result from a poor work environment and cause physical damage or death to an employee in association with the performance of his or her task in the workplace. Studies conducted in Ethiopia indicated variable findings ranging from 30% to 84.7% prevalence of occupational injury among construction workers. Despite the rapid growth of the construction industry, the prevalence of occupa­tional injury was not well studied in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with occupational injuries among building construction workers employed by general contractor firms in Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia.

Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1 to 30, 2021, among 596 study subjects selected through a systematic random sampling technique. Data were collected through face-to-face inter­views; data entry and analysis were used by Epi-info version 3.1 and SPSS version 23 software, respectively. Multi­variable logistic regression analysis was performed using the backward likelihood ratio method to identify factors independently associated with occupational injuries. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant, and AOR and 95% CI were used to interpret the results.

Results: The overall prevalence of occupational injuries among building construction workers was 35.9% (95% CI: 32.1-39.3%) in the past six months. Non-formal education (AOR: 3.5; 95% CI: 2.05, 6.00), non-use of personal pro­tective equipment (AOR = 2.78; 95% CI: 1.79, 4.30), alcohol consumption (AOR = 4.70; 95% CI: 2.91, 7.53), working machines not maintained (AOR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.05, 3.16), and job satisfaction (AOR = 0.56; 95% CI: 0.16, 0.69) were found to be significantly associated with occupational injury.

Conclusion: More than one-third of building construction workers in Hawassa City experienced occupational injuries during the past six months. Lower educational status, lack of personal protective equipment use, alcohol consumption, and poorly maintained machinery were positively associated with injury risk, while higher job satisfaction was asso­ciated with a lower risk.