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Occupational Injuries in Nicaragua

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  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Problem under study: Annually, an estimated 250 million people suffer occupational injuries and 300,000 die from their injuries world-wide. The heaviest toll of occupational injuries is in the developing world because of the lack of safety standards and regulations. Occupational injury statistics are usually gathered from governmental bureaus of social security or labor insurance. Using these data sources exclusively in developing countries grossly underestimates the burden of occupational injuries for two reasons: there is a large informal working sector without insurance, and less than ten percent of the formal sector receives coverage. This study describes work-related injuries using the data from a PAHO/CDC/Nicaraguan Ministry of Health emergency department based injury surveillance system in Managua, Nicaragua. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the work-related injuries in the formal and informal work sectors in Managua, Nicaragua that were captured in an emergency department based injury surveillance system. The aims were to calculate the frequency and use descriptive statistics to detail occupational injuries seen in the urban setting. Methodology: For an eleven month period, August 1, 2001 to July 31, 2002, all cases from the surveillance database that indicated an injury occurred while working, were analyzed. The study data were from one participating ED, at the Hospital Escuela Antonio Lenin Fonseca (HEALF), located in Managua, Nicaragua. HEALF is a major referral center for trauma and the ED attends to 200-300 patients a day. Results: There were 3,801 work-related injuries identified which comprised 18.5% of the total 20,425 injures captured by the surveillance system during that time. Twenty-seven work-related fatalities were recorded. Injuries that occurred outside of a traditional work location accounted for more than 60% of the work-related injuries. Almost half of these occurred at home, while 19% occurred on the street. The leading mechanisms for work-related injuries were found to be falls (30%), blunt objects (28%) and stabs/cuts (23%). Falls were by far the most lethal mechanism in the study, causing 37% of the work-related deaths and more than half of the fractures. The most lethal mechanism in the study, causing 37% of the work-related deaths and more than half of the fractures. Conclusion: An emergency department can be an important alternative data source for occupational injuries in developing countries because it captures both the informal and formal sector workforce injuries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • Publisher:
    Kuratorium für Schutz und Sicherheit/Institut Sicher Leben
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Genre:
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Division:
    DSR - Division of Safety Research
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20025712
  • Citation:
    The 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, June 6th-9th, 2004, Vienna, Austria. Vienna, Austria: Kuratorium für Schutz und Sicherheit/Institut Sicher Leben, 2004 Jun; :561
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2004
  • NORA Priority Area:
    Construction
  • Peer Reviewed:
    False
  • Source Full Name:
    The 7th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, June 6th-9th, 2004, Vienna, Austria
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:a927241ab2efcd50e2fa083bafb83fd90343af6ba0e9153939c583f03fd9d3f1d397a36ab535dd71d2f471c26dcb37ee546fb327b83cd909ee5e8ed943efdf86
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 357.64 KB ]
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