Status of occupational accidents in aluminum scrap recycling of Binh Yen craft village, Nam Dinh province

Abstract

     Accidents at work are known as a common health problem of metal scrap recycling domain. This paper aims to describe the status of occupational accidents in aluminum scrap recycling of Binh Yen village, Nam Dinh province. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February to December 2016. The sample size consisted of 350 participants who were randomly selected from 1,003 employees. The data was collected by using face-to-face interview method with structured questionnaires. The results show that occupational accidents occurred among 73.1% of participants (non-serious accidents acounted for 69.4%). Participants who worked at aluminum casting and condensing stages had a bigger number of accidents than those who worked at aluminum rolling and shaping stages. Legs and arms were found as common locations with such injuries as soft-tissue wounds, open wounds, burns, and corrosion. The majority of causes for occupational accidents were employees' contact of or being hit or touched by working tools, materials, melting metal, and other things at work. It is necessary to provide interventions for improvement of working conditions to ensure those employees' safety and health promotion.