Introduction: Occupational injuries, especially in the hand region, are one of the most common causes of disability and work-related incapacity in both industrialized and developing societies. Identifying the pattern of these injuries and the factors associated with their severity is the first step in designing preventive interventions. Given that hand injuries are the most common type of upper extremity injuries, this study was conducted to investigate the pattern of occupational injuries with emphasis on hand injuries and to identify the related factors among workers in Zabol City during a decade.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 157 occupational accident cases recorded during 2010–2019 at the Labor Office of Zabol County. Data on age ,education , work experience, type and location of injury, injury severity and lost workdays were extracted using a researcher-made checklist and analyzed using SPSS software version 19. To examine the relationship between variables and injury severity, the Chi-square test and calculation of Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval were used. To compare lost workdays between groups, due to the non-normal distribution of data, the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test was used. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.
Results: Out of 157 accidents, 75 cases (47.7%) involved hand injuries, 49 cases (31.2%) involved head and neck injuries, 21 cases (13.4%) involved foot injuries and 12 cases (7.6%) involved trunk injuries. Among hand injuries, lacerations (34 cases, 45.3%) and amputations (22 cases, 29.3%) were the most frequent. A significant association was found between education level and severe injuries (p < 0.001), such that 87% of amputation cases occurred in illiterate or low-educated individuals. Work exprience of less than one year was also associated with increased odds of severe hand injury (OR = 4.53, 95% CI: 1.79-11.79, p < 0.001). The total lost workdays due to hand injuries was 3623 days, which was significantly higher than for other body regions.
Conclusion:Hand injuries, especially lacerations and amputations, are the most common and costly consequences of occupational accidents in Zabol City. Low education level and work experience of less than one year were associated with greater severity of hand injuries in the records reviewed. Designing practical training programs on the principles of working with machinery, engineering measures such as installing guards on machinery and mandatory use of safety gloves in small workshops appear to be essential.