Factory floor injury in a Lagos sawmill

We retrospectively reviewed injuries sustained in 36 consecutive accidents in a wood-processing factory and managed at a private hospital over a 2-year period in Lagos. The commonest injuries were lacerations by revolving saws, followed by crush injuries from entrapment by machines and from falling logs and planks. The upper limbs were involved in 24 (66%) of these accidents cases. Of 137 workers on the factory floor, the highest injury rate (64%) occurred among machine operators. While 80.6% of these injuries were simple ones treated by suturing and dressing, 7 (19.4%) were life-threatening enough to warrant hospitalisation and major surgery, with 6 sustaining a mean permanent disability of 7.1 +/- 6%. Although factory-floor injuries constituted only 6.5% of 553 hospital attendance recorded within the period from the company, they were responsible for 44.2% of total medical expenditure by the company within the same period. Non-use of protective gears and disregard for safety procedures were noted in most of the accidents. The in-house first-aid program was adjudged as life-saving in the few major cases managed. We concluded that while many factory-floor injuries in wood-processing factories may be minor hand injuries, provision and strict observance of safety protocols as well as an active first-aid program are invaluable to minimise morbidity, cost and loss of productive man-hours in wood processing factories.