Factors of occupational injury: a survey in a chemical company.

Chemical industries being the seat of dangerous occurrences frequently resulting in injuries, an occupational injury surveillance study was initiated involving 307 permanent and 419 temporary workers in a chemical company to understand the contribution of different possible factors on injury causation. Risk calculation was undertaken in relation to every individual factor using univariate and multivariate analysis techniques. Workers of lower age were found to be more susceptible to accidents (as evidenced by negative correlation coefficient), though non-significantly. Lower job duration (experience) had a significant impact on injury causation (correlation coefficient -0.5115, p<0.05). Alcohol habit could not show any significant impact but smoking/chewing habit showed significant effect (OR, 7.29: 95% CI, 3.88-9.33) on accident occurrence. Nature of job had no significant impact but nature of employment was found to have considerable effect on the causation of injuries. Temporary nature of employment was at greater risk (OR, 2.51: 95% CI, 1.42-3.77) in comparison to permanent workers.