Prevalence of traumatic injuries among female workers in garment industry in Dickwella Divisional Secretariat area

Introduction: Work related injuries are a major public health problem in Sri Lanka today. Garment industry is the major foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka and work related traumatic injuries are more common among workers of garment industry, the majority of which are women. Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the prevalence and associated factors of traumatic injuries among female workers in garment industry. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among female garment workers working in two garment factories in Dickwella Divisional Secretariat area. Three hundred and twelve workers were randomly selected according to the proportion of total workers in each factory. Data was collected by a self-administered questionnaire. All data was analyzed by using Statistical Package of Social Sciences. Results: The population consisted of 312 female workers. The mean age range was 26-35 years. Most of the participants (63.8%) had educated up to G.C.E. Ordinary Level. One hundred and seventy four (55.8%) were sewing machine operators. Of the participants 73.1% worked 8-9 hours per day and 53.5% worked 6-10 hours per week as over time. Prevalence of traumatic injuries was 35.3% among workers during the previous 12 months. Rushing at work (46.4%) was the most common cause followed by carelessness (25.5%). Puncture injuries (48.2%) were the commonest type of injuries while contusions and abrasion (19.1%) were the second commonest type and fingers (57.8%) were the commonest injured body part. Large majority (91.3%) of participants were satisfied about the safety of the working environment.