Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.2478/aiht-2021-72-3377
Epidemiology of occupational injuries among insured workers in Saudi Arabia between 2004 and 2016
Mohsin Abbas
orcid.org/0000-0002-6080-8090
; University of Gujrat Faculty of Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Gujrat, Pakistan 2 King Abdul-Aziz University, Department of Environmental Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Rashid Saeed
; University of Gujrat Faculty of Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Gujrat, Pakistan
Zaki-ul-Zaman Asam
; University of Gujrat Faculty of Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Gujrat, Pakistan
Abstract
This is a retrospective analysis of annual reports on occupational injuries issued by the national social insurance agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for the years 2004 through 2016. For each criterion we calculated an index based on the equation NY/Nref x100, where NY is the number of occupational injuries by a specific criterion in a specific year Y, and Nref is the number of injuries in the corresponding criterion in the reference year, i.e. 2004. We also calculated the number of injuries to number of workers ratio (Ni/Nw) for different occupations and economic sectors to get a clearer idea of the injury trends per worker. In terms of occupational injury rates (with respect to 2004), we observed increases in construction, financing & real estate (economic sectors), among engineers and technicians (occupations), in infections and secondary contusions (injury type), for upper and lower limbs (affected body parts), over falls and “other” causes. Most injuries occurred on Fridays, which is a weekend day in Saudi Arabia. We also observed increased recovery without disability (injury status). However, if we look at the number of occupational injuries per worker, we can see a decreasing trend over time for all occupations and economic sectors, most likely thanks to improved labour law and safety at work practices for insured workers. Our findings are similar to reports from other Persian Gulf countries and reflect current labour health and safety issues in the area.
Keywords
construction workers; contusions; engineers; General Organization for Social Insurance; infections; labour; Persian Gulf countries; technicians
Hrčak ID:
253762
URI
Publication date:
16.3.2021.
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