Prevalence of occupational accidents and factors associated with deaths and disabilities in the shipbuilding industry: Comparisons of novice and skilled workers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The shipbuilding industry has various risks such as slipping, falling, mechanical, chemical, and confined space work. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to compare the characteristics of the occupational accidents between novice and skilled workers in the shipbuilding industry and to analyze factors affecting death and disability accidents. METHODS: From the national work-related compensation data of South Korea, an experimental design was established to analyze a population of occupational injuries related to workers working in the shipbuilding industry. This study compares accident characteristics of 2,069 injuries registered as work-related accidents. Also, logistic regression analysis is performed to identify the factors affecting death and disability accidents. RESULTS: The prevalence of occupational accidents caused by novices was high in older workers, female workers, foreign workers, irregular workers, or companies with less than 100 employees. The proportion of source of accident by novices was high in ‘manhole,’‘ladder,’ and ‘scaffold,’ while the prevalence of accident type was high in ‘fall,’ ‘cut/bruise,’ and ‘struck by.’ According to logistic regression analysis, if the face was injured, the possibility of being death or disability was higher than that of other parts of the body. Also, if the rupture caused the injury, the possibility of being death or disability was higher than the different types of injury. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study are expected to be useful as basic data for the prevention of accidents of novice and death/disabilities in the shipbuilding industry.