Safety climate and occupational injuries among construction workers at Kabuyanda Irrigation Dam, Isingiro District, Western Uganda

Abstract

Background: Globally construction workplaces are usually unsafe leading to high injury and fatality rates among workers. This study determined safety climate and prevalence of occupational injuries (OIs) among construction workers at Kabuyanda Irrigation Dam (KID) in Isingiro District, Western Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 workers using an adapted Nordic Occupational Safety Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50). Socio-demographic and health related variables (e.g. age, daily income, experiencing injuries and sleep disorder) and climate dimensions data were collected. Exploratory data analysis (EDA) was used to generate descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and graphs). The primary outcome was experiencing occupational injury measured on Yes/No basis (binary categorical) for 6 months prior to the study. A modified Poisson regression model was used to determine associations between independent variables and prevalence of OIs while prevalence ratio (PR) was used as a measure of association. Results: Majority of the workers were males (86%, 172/200) and close to a third (29.5%) were -25-29 years old. The overall average safety climate score was fairly low (2.73). Workers had a fairly good perceived value of dimension 6 (peer safety communication, learning, and trust in safety ability) with a mean score of 3.18 while dimension 7 (workers’ safety priority and risk non-acceptance) had the lowest mean score of 2.03 (very low) on a scale of 1-4. The prevalence of OIs within a six-months period was relatively high (23%, 46/200). More than a third (82.6%, 38/46) suffered injuries on their hands and fingers, while nearly a quarter (23.9%, 11/46) of the injured workers were hospitalized and could not resume work immediately, leading to lost time injury (LTI) cases. Of the 11 LTIs, 63.6% (7/11), 27.3% (3/11) and 9.11% (1/11) lost 1-7 working days, 8-14 working days and 15-30 working days, respectively. Factors associated with higher prevalence of OIs were; a fairly good management safety justice (adj.PR:2.34, 95% CI: 1.30-5.34, p=0.042) compared to good management safety justice. However, prevalence of OIs was lower among workers who received rewards for excellent performance (adj.PR:0.57, 95% CI: 0.32-0.95, p=0.022) compared to those who were not rewarded for excellent work and those who experienced good peer safety communication, learning and trust in safety ability (adj.PR:0.18, CI: 0.07-0.45, p=0.001) in relation to those who experienced very low peer safety communication, learning and trust in safety ability. Conclusions: The overall mean safety climate at KID was fairly low (2.73) while the 6-months’ prevalence of occupational injuries was relatively higher (23%) than the set target of 2 minor injuries in 6 months. Prevalence of OIs was higher among workers who were not rewarded for excellent performance and those who felt fairly good safety justice but it was lower among workers with good peer safety communication, learning and trust in safety ability. Health and safety control measures should be reviewed and enhanced to reduce the prevalence of OIs and construction time losses at KID.