TRANSACTION PAPERS

 

A matched case-control study of occupational injury in underground coalmine workers

 

 

B.M. Kunar^I; A. Bhattacherjee^II; N. Chau^{III, IV}

^IDepartment of Mining Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, India
^IIDepartment of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India
^IIIINSERM, Paris, France
^IVUniversity of Paris-Sud and University Paris Descartes, Paris, France

 

 

---

SYNOPSIS

It is well known that job-related hazards and individual factors influence occupational injuries. However, research involving coal miners has been limited. This case-control study assessed the relationships of job-related hazards and individual/life style factors with injuries among underground coal miners. It compared 245 cases with at least one injury during the previous two-year period with 245 matched controls with no injury. The data were gathered via personal interview and analysed using the conditional logistic model. The significant risk factors were materials handling (adjusted OR 5.15), poor environmental/working conditions (2.63), geological/strata control-related hazards (2.35), lack of formal education (3.00), sleep disorders (1.86), alcohol consumption (2.32), disease (2.23), having a large family (5.40), and risk-taking behaviour (9.40). Machine-related hazards, sleep disorders and alcohol consumption primarily affected workers aged less than 45 years; whereas, environment/working condition-related hazards, presence of disease, smoking, risk-taking behaviour and large family size were more likely among workers aged 45 or over.

Keywords: Occupational injuries, sleep disorders, job hazards, alcohol, coal miners

---

 

 

“Full text available only in PDF format”

 

 

References

1. Nakata, A., Ikeda, T., Takahashi, M., Haratani, T., Fujioka, Y., Fukui, S., Swanson, N.G., Hojou, M., and Araki, S. Sleep-related risk of occupational injuries in Japanese small and medium-scale enterprises. Industrial Health, vol. 43, 2005, pp. 89-97.         [ Links ]

2. Takala, J. Introduction to integrated and strategies approach to occupational health. ILO (ed.), In focus Program on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment. Presentation on the thirteenth session of the ILO/WHO Joint Committee on Occupational Health, Geneva, 9-12 December, 2003 (www.ilo.org/safework) (accessed 2007-02-10).         [ Links ]

3. Hermanus M.A. Occupational health and safety in mining - Status, new developments, and concerns. The Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 107, no. 8, 2007, pp. 531-538.         [ Links ]

4. Kisner, S.M. Work-related fatalities in the United States: 1980-1995. Proceedings of the 5th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control. New Delhi, March 5-8, 2000, pp. 779.         [ Links ]

5. Esterhuizen, G.S. and Gurtunca, R.G. Coal mine safety achievements in the USA and the contribution of NIOSH research. The Journal of South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 106, no. 12, 2006, pp. 813-820.         [ Links ]

6. Sharma, M.M. Mines safety in India-Emerging Issues. Das, S.K. and Bhattacherjee, A. (Course Coordinators) Short-Term Course on Mines Safety and Legislation. March 19-23, 2007, Kharagpur: Indian Institute of Technology, pp. 108-125.         [ Links ]

7. Karra, V.K. Analysis of nonfatal and fatal injury rates for mine operator and contractor employees and the influence of work location. Journal of Safety Research, vol. 36, 2005, pp. 413-421.         [ Links ]

8. Kizil, G.V. and Joy, J. The Development and Implementation of a Minerals Industry Risk Management Gateway. APCOM 2005. Tucson, Arizona, USA.         [ Links ]

9. Chau, N., Mur, J.M., Benamghar, L., Siegfried, C., Dangelzer, J.L., Francais, M., Jacquin, R., and Sourdot, A. Relationships between some individual characteristics and occupational accidents in the construction industry-A case-control study on 880 victims of accidents occurred during a two-year period. Journal of Occupational Health, vol. 44, 2002, pp. 131-139.         [ Links ]

10. Ghosh, AK., Bhattacherjee, A., and Chau, N. Relationships of working conditions and individual characteristics to occupational injuries: a case-control study in coal miners. Journal of Occupational Heath, vol. 46, 2004, pp. 470-478.         [ Links ]

11. Gauchard, G.C., Mur, J.M., Touron, C., Benamghar, L., Dehaene, D., Perrin, P., and Chau, N. Determinants of accident proneness-A case-control study in railway workers. Occupational Medicine, vol. 56, 2006. pp. 187-190.         [ Links ]

12. Ioannis, S.B., George, C.B., Aristides, B.Z., Vassiliki, B., and Panayotis, N.S. Factors affecting the risk of hip fractures Injury. International Journal of the Care of the Injured. vol. 38, 2007, pp. 735-744.         [ Links ]

13. Chau, N., Bourgkard, E., Bhattacherjee, A., Ravaud, J.F, Choquet, M., and Mur, J.M. Group Lohardicap: Associations of job, living conditions and lifestyle with occupational injury in working population: a population-based study, Int Arch Occup Environ Health, vol. 81, 2008, pp. 379-389.         [ Links ]

14. Northey, G. Alcohol and Injury. A selective annotated bibliography. Injury Prevention Research Centre Report. New Zealand: University of Auckland, Series No. 70, 4-5,2003.         [ Links ]

15. Bhattacherjee, A., Kunar, B.M., and Chau N. Contribution of physical hazards and health-related factors in occupational injuries of underground coal miners: A matched case-control study. Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference of Safety in Mines Research Institutes (SIMRI). Beijing, China, September 28-29, 2007, SAWS, China, pp. 423-430.         [ Links ]

16. Gauchard, G., Chau, N., Touron, C., Benamghar, L., Dehaene, D., Perrin, P., and Mur, J.M. Individual characteristics in occupational accidents due to imbalance-A case control study in the employees of a railway company. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 60, 2003, pp. 330-335.         [ Links ]

17. Directorate General of Mines Safety. Standard Note, 2007, pp. 1-53.         [ Links ]

18. Chau, N., Mur, JM., Benamghar, L., Siegfried, C., Dangelzer, JL., Francais, M., Jacquin, R., and Sourdot, A. Relationship between certain individual characteristics and occupational for various jobs in the construction industry-A Case-Control Study. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. vol. 45, 2004, pp. 84-92.         [ Links ]

19. Jorgensen, K. Concepts of accident analysis. International Labour Office (ILO). (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety. Chapter VIII. Accidents and safety management-Accident prevention, 4th ed. Geneva: iLo 1998.         [ Links ]

20. Chau, N., Gauchard, G.C., Dehaene, D., Benamghar, L., Touron, C., Perrin, P., and Mur, J.M. Contribution of occupational hazards and human factors in occupational injuries and their association with job, age and type of injuries in railway workers. International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, vol. 80, no. 6, 2007, pp. 517-525.         [ Links ]

21. Chau, N., Ravaud, J.F., Otero, S.C., Legras, B., Macho, J., Guillemin, F., Sanchez, J., and Mur, J.M. Groupe Lorhandicap. Prevalence of impairments and social inequalities: A community-based study in Lorraine. Rev Epidemiol Sante Publiqu., vol. 53, 2005, pp. 614-628.         [ Links ]

22. Stata Corporation. Stata Statistical Software: release 9.0. College Station, TX, Stata Corporation, 2005.         [ Links ]

23. Akerstedt, T., Knutsson, A., Westerholm, P., Theorell, T., Alfredsson, L., and Kecklund, G. Work organisation and unintentional sleep-Results from the WOLF study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, vol. 59, 2002, pp. 595-600.         [ Links ]

24. Mitchell, K. Aging workforce challenge to corporate health and productivity. The Journal for the Financial Services Industry. 2005, pp. 1-2.         [ Links ]

25. Prabhakar, D. Human Factors study on drillers. M.Tech Thesis. Dept. of Mining Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, 2006 (Unpublished).         [ Links ]

26. Hoffstein, V. Relationship between smoking and sleep apnea in clinic population. Sleep, vol. 25, 2002, pp. 519-524.         [ Links ]

27. Nelson, H.D., Nevitt, M.C., Scott, J.C., Stone, K.L., and Cummings, S.R. Smoking, alcohol, and neuromuscular and physical function of older women. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. JAMA. vol. 273, 1994, pp. 1825-1831.         [ Links ]

28. Dahlgren, G. and Whitehead, M. Levelling up (Part 2): A discussion paper on European strategies for tackling social inequities in health. Copenhagen: World Health organization Regional office for Europe. Studies on Social and Economic determinants of Population; no. 3, 2006.         [ Links ]

29. Room, R., Babor, T., and Rehm, J. Alcohol and public health. Lancet, vol. 365, 2005, pp. 519-530.         [ Links ]

30. Groves, W.A., Kecojevic, V.J., and Komljenovic, D. Analysis of fatalities and injuries involving mining equipment. Journal of safety Research, vol. 38, 2007, pp. 461-470.         [ Links ]