Occupational injury and associated factors among building construction workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional institution based Study

Background: The World Health Organization describes the occupational injury as an epidemic problem in the field of public health in underdeveloped countries. Work-related injuries are significantly associated with various factors including lack of safety and health training programs, employing young workers, low literacy workers, smoking, low work experiences, and not using personal protective equipment.Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of occupational injury and its associated factors among building construction workers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Cross-sectional institution-based study was conducted on selected construction sites in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews using pretested and structured questionnaires. The collected data were entered using the epi data version 4.2.0 and exported to SPSS version 26 for further analysis and interpretation. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to see the association between the independent and dependent variables. P< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Of 220 study participants, 88(40%) workers reported occupational injury during the past 12 months, and their main causes of injury were struck by an object 24(27.2%) and falling at ground level 23(26.1%). Factors associated with occupational injuries were temporary employment (AOR = 2.7;95% CI: 1.02,7.1]), work experience(AOR =2.9;95% CI:1.5,5.7) and prolonged working hours(AOR=2.3;95% CI:1.3,4.1).Conclusion: This study finding showed that there is high occupational injury and this is related to lack of training, less work experience, and prolonged working hours per week.