Occupational Injuries among Workers in a Welding Company within Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality

A questionnaire survey was conducted among 37 welders and 21 fitters (exposed group) and 30 office workers (unexposed group) employed by a welding company located in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The objective was to calculate and describe the prevalence of occupational injuries among these workers and to compare the frequencies of injuries. A total of 87 injuries were reported by workers. The most common injuries sustained were burns (n=29); cuts (n=24); eye injuries inflicted by foreign objects (n=19); electric shock (n=8); arc eyes (n=4); and bone fractures (n=3). Most occurred on the hands (n=57). More workers in the exposed group sustained injuries than in the unexposed group. It is necessary to implement safety measures in order to reduce the prevalence of injuries

Occupational health and safety management systems - a review of practices in enterprises in Botswana

Unsafe working conditions create heavy burdens in workplaces and on the wellbeing of workers. Despite this; Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) to reduce accidents and diseases in workplaces remain inadequate in many countries; including Botswana. An exploratory cross-sectional study; using secondary data; was undertaken to establish OHSMS practices in various industrial sectors in Botswana. The results showed that a quarter (27.6) and about half of small and medium enterprises (SMEs); respectively; and just over half (60) of large enterprises; have existing OHSMS. Only 29.2 of enterprises had an OHS policy statement. The elements of OHSMS were not uniformly implemented across all enterprises; with SMEs faring poorly. However; 71.1 of enterprises reported provision of induction courses. OHSMS is not widely practiced in Botswana; raising concerns for worker wellbeing; particularly in SMEs. Further research is needed to identify gaps and the development of a coherent OHSMS for the country

Burden of injury at a beverage manufacturing company

The burden of injury at a South African beverage manufacturing company was evaluated by retrospective analysis of the records of all employees who reported to the occupational health clinic with occupational injuries during the six-month review period. Records included compensation records of occupational injury; insurance claims and accident reports. The type; anatomical site; mechanism of injury and factors predictive of the number of sick days taken off work were examined using descriptive and interferential statistics. Department and gender were signifi cant predictors of days taken off work. Incorrect manual handling accounted for 64.6 of strain injuries. More employees were injured in the administrative support department than in the workshop department. Recommendations include the implementation of aggressive health promotion and injury prevention strategies to reduce the burden of injuries; more studies at different types of companies as well as the standardisation of data collection to provide reliable epidemiological information on occupational injuries