Injury risk at the work processes in fishing: a case-referent study

Epidemiological studies on occupational injuries describe the incidence ratios related to the main strata in the industries, while the injury incidence ratios for the specific work processes within the work places have not yet been studied. The aim was to estimate the injury rate-ratios for the main work processes in commercial fishing. A case-referent design with samples of person-time was used. The reported injuries to the National Maritime Authorities for a 5-year period for four types of commercial fishing defined the cases. The odds for the referents were calculated from samples of person-times for the specific working processes. Odds Ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated for the specific working processes. A total of 560 cases were included and the samples of referent working periods were 63110 min in total. The largest part of the injuries (n = 318 injuries) 56.8% were related to three main working processes 5-7 (WP 5-7): preparing, shooting and hauling of the fishing gear and nets. The OR's for the specific working processes varied highly. The OR for WP 5-7 in total was 2.4 (2.10-2.77) with variations from of the OR s from 1.10 to 3.5 in different types of fishing. The OR's for traffic on board was 15.3 (12.0-19.4). The variations in the odds ratios indicate that the fishermen continuously shift between low and high-risk areas pointing out areas for prevention. The case-referent design with samples of person-time is useful for other areas of prevention.