Work-related injuries from mandatory fitness training among Swedish firemen.

A considerable amount of employees incur injuries in professions with mandatory on-duty fitness training. The training is necessary for maintaining a good health status, physical condition and strength in professions requiring such qualities. Injuries in Swedish firemen from on-duty fitness training between 1992 and 1998 were selected retrospectively from the Information System of Occupational Injuries (ISA) at the National Board of Occupational Safety and Health and, if having caused a sick-leave exceeding 2 weeks, to the Labour Market Insurance (AMF Insurance). The latter comprised injuries from 1995 only. During the seven-year period 1,468 injuries from fitness training occurred in male firemen. With an estimated 147 h per man and year the injury incidence was 2.6 per 10,000 h of exposure. The mean number of days of absence from work was 24.1 days (SD 39.8). In 1995, the mean cost per injury for medical treatment was close to 7,000 Euro and for production loss almost 4,500 Euro. By far the major part of the injuries, 75 %, occurred during team and contact sports (primarily floorball and soccer) and this sport category also accounted for 83% of the medical costs and 78% of the costs for production loss. It is suggested that a restriction of team and contact sports as mandatory on-duty fitness training for firemen should be tested and evaluated concerning the injury incidence.

Medical consequences of work-related accidents on 2,454 Swedish farms.

The medical consequences of accidents related to work on 2,454 farms in two Swedish rural municipalities were studied. The objectives were to describe the nature and scope of the injuries incurred, to collect data for the health planning procedure, and to test a local system for continuous injury surveillance in emergency care. All the injuries of 163 patients during the period 1 January-31 December 1983 were analyzed with regard to diagnosis, severity, medical treatment, hospitalization, and temporary and permanent disability. Wounds, contusions, fractures, foreign bodies, sprains, and strains constituted the main diagnostic groups. Injuries to the fingers, head and face (including the eyes), feet, and legs dominated. Six percent of the patients were admitted to the hospital. Seventy-five patients were put on temporary disability for a total of 2,431 d. For 62 of these patients the injuries were classified as minor. Permanent disability was observed in 4% of the cases. The study emphasizes the importance of registry criteria when one is comparing different injury surveillance systems. The majority of the injuries could have been prevented by the proper use of appropriate personal safety equipment. The results may serve as a basis for general measures to improve local safety consciousness.

The yield of systems for continuous and periodic injury surveillance in emergency care with emphasis on farm-work-related accidents.

The objective was to analyse the medical consequences, sequence of events and contributory and background factors of farm-work-related accidents. The study is part of a project to develop systems for continuous and periodic injury surveillance in Swedish public health care. Altogether 163 patients were treated for injuries sustained in accidents on 2454 farms during a one-year period. The five most common injurious agents were: material, tools, machinery, foreign bodies and animals. Half of the injuries were due to the victims' having slipped on a floor or on equipment with tools or other objects or to tripping. Reported contributory factors were unsuitable methods of working, failure to use personal safety equipment, deficient inspection, lack of safety devices, design deficiency and haste. Farms consisting of more than 50 hectares (120 acres) were over-represented. The results illustrate the numerous risks associated with work on farms and indicate the need to improve occupational safety in this sector.