[Non-fatal occupational injuries: gender and job contract differences]

In Brazil, workers without a formal job contract comprise more than half of the labor force, a contingent formed mainly by women. This study presents estimates of the annual incidence of non-fatal work-related injuries and their distribution by gender and type of job contract in an urban area of Brazil. This was a community-based study with a random cluster area sample of the inhabitants from the city of Salvador, capital of the State of Bahia. The study population included all individuals from 18 to 65 years of age who reported having a paid job (n = 2,947). Data were obtained through individual household interviews. The overall estimated annual incidence rate was 5.80%, with a non-statistically significant difference between men (6.05%) and women (5.53%) or workers with (5.67%) and without (5.92%) a formal job contract. These similarities between work-related accidents across gender and type of job contract highlighted the need for greater attention to this problem among women and informal workers, who are largely ignored in official statistics.