Occupational injuries and safety measures adopted by welding workers: a cross sectional study in South India

Abstract

Background Welders have been identified as a high risk group according to ranking of occupations based on cost related injuries. Employment of safety measures and practices among welders are potential ways of preventing occupational injuries. Adherence to these precautions is nearly universal in the developed world but there is scarcity of information about the situation in developing world including India. Objectives 1) To estimate the prevalence of occupational injuries among welding workers in Udupi district; 2) To assess the perception towards occupational hazards and the safety measures adopted by the welders Material and Methods A cross- sectional study was conducted among 160 non- industrial welding workers in Udupi district. A pre-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used. Results The prevalence of occupational injuries was found to be 80%. Only 24.4% of the welders had undergone professional training. Though 95% of them were aware of the importance of personal protective equipments (PPE), only 37.5% of them were regularly using PPE. Majority (75%) of them reported that welding profession was dangerous. Around 79% of the workers reported carelessness being the major cause of injury during work. Working hours of less than 8 hours in a day, reading of safety manual and maintenance of equipments were significantly positively associated with occupational injuries among welding workers.

Keywords

• Occupational injuries; welding workers; personal protective equipment