Occupational safety and health of different industrial sectors in Khartoum State, Sudan–II- Analysis of occupational accidents and injuries

Introduction  Occupational accidents are underreported in developing countries.  There is a lack of convenient accidents recording system.  Moreover, lack of qualified specialists, regulations, and activation of legislations.  In Sudan, the article number 92 of the 1997 Sudan Labor code is concerned with occupational accidents.  However, this article remained inactive until 2005  Since then accidents’ record were kept at administration of industrial safety  Accident causes are mainly due to unsafe acts and conditions.  Many working places in Sudan are suffering from both of them. Khartoum state, includes Khartoum, Bahari, and Omdurman cities.  Large industrial enterprises are located primarily in Khartoum state.  There is a lack of accident analysis of causes, types and outcomes in Sudan.

Aim of the Study  The aim of this study is to analyze the occupational accidents in different industrial sectors of Khartoum State, Sudan during the period from to identify the main accident factors.  The data of this study might be a valuable resource to design occupational health and safety plans in Sudanese industries.

MATERIAL AND METHODS  Study Setting:  All industrial enterprises in Khartoum State employing 50 workers or more.  Sample size:  89 enterprises (27.8% 0f those in Khartoum state).  Employing workers( 57.3% of workers in Khartoum State).  The sample was classified into six industrial sectors.

 The sample was classified into six industrial sectors according to ILO.  These sectors include food, chemical, mechanical& electrical engineering, metallurgic, construction and,  Other‘s’ sector, comprising printing, packaging, textile, furniture, and leather.  Data Collection:  Accident records of the enterprise and that of administration of industrial safety-Ministry of Manpower were collected for 10 months from August  The collected data included accidents from 2005 to MATERIAL AND METHODS……

Figure 1. Distribution of employees in six industrial sectors of three cities

Figure 2. Distribution of enterprisers in six industrial sectors of three cities

Questionnaires design:  Two tailored made questionnaires were designed, evaluated and modified.  Questionnaire [A] was designed for the supervisors' interviews.  It included knowledge about accident data such as: location, time, type, cause, injured body part, outcome, management,  and their suggestions to prevent recurrence of similar events  Questionnaire [B] was designed for the injured workers' interviews.  It included data about previous accidents (if present), and his suggestions to minimize accidents. All injured workers were interviewed except 26 (7%), of which 14 (54%) died due to the accidents, and 12 (46%) left their work in the enterprises.

Accident rate calculation  Accident incidence rate was calculated using the following formula:  Incidence rate = No. of injured workers * 1000  Total No. of workers  Data were coded and entered in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 16), for statistical analysis. Statistical tests used were descriptive statistics, and cross tabulation.

Results

Conclusion  The most common industrial accident type, in Khartoum State during , was the caught in/or between.  Contact with machines was the major accident cause.  Upper extremities were the main injured organs. Machines were the major cause of amputation, and bone breaking & crushing. Hazardous materials, transportation, and machines were the key death causes.  The major dangerous workplace conditions were the lack of PPE and presence of faulty or inappropriate tools  The chief unsafe act was using defective or failure to use tools.  The most important risky personal factor was the negative attitude of workers and supervisors towards safety.  In spite of the availability of PPE, the workers were not trained on their proper use.  The industrial accident incidence rate in Omdurman city was higher than that in Bahari and Khartoum

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