Type, effects and cause of injuries suffered by workers in the sawmill industry of El Salto, Durango, Mexico

Abstract

Introduction: Sawmill work is a dangerous occupation because it involves handling materials and equipment that exposes workers to many risks that can affect their health and safety. Objective: To identify injuries, parts of the body affected and agents that cause accidents in sawmill workers in the region of El Salto, Durango. Materials and methods: A structured survey was applied to 300 workers in 26 sawmills and pallet mills to determine typology, damages and cause of injuries suffered in the last five years. Results and discussion: In the sawmills of El Salto, the most important positions are occupied by people of older age and work experience, regardless of their level of schooling; they have suffered one to five accidents in the last five years and only 32 % have received occupational safety training. The most frequent injuries were caused by hits and crushing body parts of assistants (57 %), open wounds in operators (16 %) and sprains (15 %). The mechanisms causing these injuries were getting stuck by moving objects (30 %), hitting against moving objects (23.3 %), falling objects (14.3 %) and false moves (13.7 %). Fingers were the most affected (35 %) due to a hit and by getting stuck. Conclusions: Safety training is limited, leading to 95 % of workers with injuries with different degrees of severity. It is necessary to implement actions to reduce the risk of accidents and injuries.