Prevalence and associated factors of occupational injuries in an industrial city in Ghana

by Michael Tetteh Asiedu, Douglas Aninng Opoku, Nana Kwame Ayisi-Boateng, Joseph Osarfo, Alhassan Sulemana, Aliyu Mohammed, John Amissah, Jennifer Ashilevi, Ayongo Mate-Kole, Felix Agyemang Opoku, Isaac Kofi Yankson, Emmanuel Kweku Nakua

Workers are exposed to workplace hazards which increase their risk of occupational injury. Data on occupational injuries and associated factors are important for planning and informing national policy regarding workplace health and safety. This study sought to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with occupational injuries among workers in an industrial city in Ghana.

A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 459 workers in the Tema industrial enclave in Ghana from 22^nd December 2020 to 27^th February 2021. Participants were recruited using a two-stage sampling technique. Eight communities were randomly selected from twenty-five communities in the first stage while households in each community were randomly selected in the second stage. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, occupational health and safety and occupational injuries were collected. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between occupational injuries and associated factors.

The mean age of the workers was 33.9 (±6.8) years with a range of 21–53 while over 18.1% of them were working at the Port and Harbour. The prevalence of occupational injury among the workers in the preceding twelve months was 64.7%. The mechanism of injury was mainly the use of working tools (45.8%) and hot surfaces, substances or chemicals (14.1%). Being a casual staff (AOR: 2.26, 95%CI: 1.04–4.92), working at Port and Harbour (AOR: 3.77, 95%CI: 1.70–8.39), no health and safety training (AOR: 2.18, 95%CI: 1.08–4.39), dissatisfaction with health and safety measures (AOR: 4.31, 95%CI: 2.12–8.78) and tertiary education (AOR: 0.03, 95%CI: 0.01–0.10) were significantly associated with occupational injuries.

The prevalence of occupational injuries in this study was high. Promoting machine tools’ safety, health and safety training, and satisfaction with health and safety measures through rewarding workers who do not sustain injuries could be key to employees’ health and safety.