IJOMEH 2008;21(1) 59 ORIGINAL PAPERS International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health 2008;21(1):59 – 66 DOI 10.2478/v10001-008-0005-0 HOSPITAL CONTACTS DUE TO INJURIES AMONG MALE DRIVERS WORKING FOR ROAD GOODS- TRANSPORT CONTRACTORS IN DENMARK HITOMI SHIBUYA 1 , HARALD HANNERZ 1 , KIM LYNGBY MIKKELSEN 1 , BRYAN CLEAL 1 , and LOTTE GUBBA 2 1 National Research Centre for the Working Environment Copenhagen, Denmark 2 Department of Occupational Medicine Herning Hospital, Herning, Denmark Abstract Objectives: To establish a detailed picture of injury pattern among professional goods-transport drivers in Denmark. Methods: For each calendar year over the period of 1995–2003, the age-standardized hospital contact ratios (SHRs) for injury were calculated for male drivers working for road goods-transport contractors in Denmark. The reference population was the male skilled/semiskilled subpopulation of the general workforce in Denmark. Results: No differences in the rate of injury-related hospital contact could be found between male goods-transport drivers and the reference population be- tween 1995 and 1999. However, in the following period of 2000–2003, elevated rates of injury-related hospital contact were noted among goods-transport drivers, compared with the reference population. Furthermore, the injury-related SHR of goods-transport drivers showed a significant increase throughout the period of 1995–2003. Injuries to ankles/feet/toes were prominent among goods-transport drivers. Compared with the reference population, male goods-transport drivers had elevated rates of superficial injuries, dislocations/sprains/strains, fractures, and concussion. The superficial injuries were sustained most frequently in the ankles/feet/toes, open wounds in head/neck, dislocations/sprains/strains in ankles/feet/ toes, and fractures in wrists/hands/fingers and ankles/feet/toes. Conclusion: There is a clear need for efforts to prevent work injuries among goods-transport drivers. Special attention should be paid to preventing fractures in wrists/hands/fingers and ankles/feet/toes, dislocations/sprains/strains in ankles/feet/toes, open wounds in head/neck, and concussion. Key words: Professional drivers, Road transport contractors, Hospital contacts, Work injury Received: September 2, 2007. Accepted: November 13, 2007. The present study was supported by Danish Work Environment Research Fund (2-2004-03). Address reprint requests to H. Shibuya, PhD, National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Lersø Parkallé 105, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark (e-mail: his@nrcwe.dk). INTRODUCTION Considerable attention has been paid to fatigue among goods-transport drivers as a risk factor for traffic ac- cidents [1–9], yet little consideration has been given to their work injuries. An earlier study [10] showed that in the period of 1991–1993, male professional goods- transport drivers had an elevated rate of injury-related hospital contact, compared with the male workforce in general. Goods-transport drivers stood in sharp contrast to passenger-transport drivers for whom the rate of in- jury-related hospital contact did not differ from that for the male workforce in general. A recent study [11] also revealed that the job group ‘plant and machinery opera- tors and assemblers’, including goods-transport drivers, was characterized by a particularly high risk of disability retirement related to injury. In this group, not only the rate of injury, but also the risk of injury leading to retire- ment was higher, compared with the general workforce. There is, therefore, a clear need for efforts to prevent work injuries among goods-transport drivers in Denmark. To this end, it is essential to establish a detailed picture of the injury pattern in this population. Accordingly, in Unauthenticated Download Date | 7/26/18 11:05 AM