Scenarios of typical occupational injuries in lumber industry

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the scenarios of typical occupational injuries in lumber industry. METHODS: All occupational injuries reported to a INSS (National Institute of Social Security) center in Lages, SC, Brazil from January 1997 to January 1999 were identified. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out and 254 injury report forms were analyzed. Multivariate analysis was conducted using Factorial Analysis of Correspondence (FAC), Hierarchical Ascendant Classification (HAC) and Partition to identify the scenarios of typical occupational injuries. RESULTS: There were identified five scenarios of occupational injuries: 1) workers' falls (40 reports); 2) overexertion in lifting or pushing objects (5 reports); 3) objects or machine parts falling or being ejected from running machines (76 reports); 4) crushing of soft tissue body parts (56 reports); and 5) body contact with running saw machines (77 reports). CONCLUSIONS: Multivariate analysis allowed describing the most typical injuries related to specific types of accidents, and provided a better understanding of the circumstances for their occurrence.