Occupational accident series from the department of forensic medicine of Dokuz Eylul University Medical Faculty: A five years retrospective study (2016-2020)

Introduction and Objectives: Occupational accidents, a preventable public health problem that causes many deaths or injuries every year, have severe individual and social consequences. Our study aims to obtain up-to-date data on occupational accidents on a regional basis, reveal the effects of accidents on people's health, identify risky working areas, and guide them for preventive measures. Materials and Methods: The cases for which a medicolegal evaluation report prepared by our department was issued due to occupational accidents between 01.01.2016- 31.12.2020 were analyzed. The cases' socio-demographic characteristics, the sector they worked in, the types of trauma they experienced, the characteristics of the lesions, how the injury was evaluated within the scope of the Turkish Criminal Code, and the conditions causing incapacity were recorded in the data recording form. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 24.0 program. Descriptive statistics are expressed in numbers and percentages; Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact Test were used to evaluate the relationship between variables, and p <0.05 was considered significant. Findings: One hundred eighty-six cases were evaluated. 91.94% of the cases were male, and the mean age was 36.18 ± 12.34 years. When the occupations and the sectors they work in are examined, construction workers (29%) suffered the most injuries. The most frequent accidents occurred in the building-construction sector (33.4%). The injury was most frequently caused by cutting/ piercing / crushing tools (32.3%). 19.9% of the cases were injured due to falling from a height. Most frequent injuries of the upper extremity (n: 100) occurred in the cases. The frequency of injury to the thoracic region (p = 0.017), vertebra (p = 0.005), and abdominal region (p = 0.039) were found to be significantly higher in construction workers compared to other occupational groups. It was observed that a simple medical intervention could not eliminate the injuries that occurred in 76.3% of the cases, and in 28.4% of them, it was life- threatening. One hundred fourteen patients had bone fractures, and when grouped according to the effects of bone fractures on life functions, the most frequent involvement was 'severe' (32.8%). Discussion and Conclusion: Our study has once again been demonstrated that the building- construction industry is a dangerous and risky area. It has been concluded that it is necessary to evaluate the regional and periodic characteristics of occupational accidents and consider that the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the occupational accident exposure of some occupational groups. It is considered essential to determine the measures to be taken by putting forward the environmental, social, economic, and political factors that cause work accidents.