Pattern of hand injuries among sawmill workers in Osogbo, Southwestern Nigeria

About one-third of all work-related injuries happen to the hands, with enormous consequences ranging from deformities to mortalities. Characterizing injuries and their trends will allow safety managers to concentrate their resources on areas of safety that will be most effective in the sawmill workplace.

The objective of the study is to assess pattern of hand injuries among sawmill workers in Osogbo, Osun state in Southwestern Nigeria.

Descriptive cross sectional study of hand injuries among 168 sawmills workers in Osogbo in Southwestern, Nigeria, using multistage sampling method. Pre-coded semi-structured pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaires were used on sampled respondents. Data was analyzed using the SPSS software version 13.0.

One hundred and thirty one (78.0%) of respondents had hand injuries at one time or the other in the recent past. Cuts accounted for 65 (38.6%) of injuries followed by pain and swelling at site of injury. A total of 107 (63.7%) of the respondents and 81.6% of those who had sustained injuries) has ever operated a cutting machine. Circular machine accounted for 88 (52.4%) of cuts, while 31(18.4%) was by plank or wood log. Only 38 (22.6%) of respondents had formal training before commencement of operations. Sixty-one (36.3%) of respondents have used protective devices at one time or the other, while 145 (86.3%) of respondents are willing to use protective devices at the next operation. Perceived factors leading to injuries among respondents included poor concentration (39.3%), carelessness (15.5%) and poor skills of workers (22.0%). There was a significant association between having ever sustained hand injuries and age less than 20 years, education less than secondary level, operating cutting machines or rolling woods and non use of protective devices (p < or = 0.05).

Hand injuries are common among sawmills workers. This might have been as a result of poor skills of workers and the non regular usage of protective devices.