ABSTRACT
Injuries due to accidents are known as one of the most important causes of disability and death in human populations. This study aims to determine factors related to occupational accidents to reduce the risk of disability and mortality among people working in Kerman. Our population comprised all cases who had been registered as having an occupational accident during 1997 to 2002 based on information obtained from the central office of labour and social affairs in Kerman. Information about age, gender, marital status, experience, the cause of accidents, type of job, sites of injury, and the long-term outcomes of accidents were collected from patients' records, injured people and their relatives using a check list. There were 164 cases reported from the center. Mean age was 32.6 +/- 9.6. More than one third of the injured were reported with an age between 20 to 29 years [min=l1,max =57]. Males constituted a big majority [98.8%] and the largest proportion of cases were those who had an experience of less than 5 years in their job [46.8%]. In 68% of cases, the accident was due to carelessness or inadequate usage of protective equipment. 43.3% of cases were employed in building activities and the least proportion of injured people were working in farms [2.4%]. About 21% of cases [n=35] died due to the accidents. Among the surviuors, hands and legs were the most common sites of injury [75.2%]. Occupational health education programs specially for younger employees who have lower experience in their job is strongly recommended. These programs should persuade them in using protective equipment