[Industrial hand injuries by punch machines: a case-control study].

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors associated with industrial hand injuries by punch machines.

METHODS

From September, 1999 to June, 2000, 108 patients of industrial hand injuries by punch machines were collected. For each patient, 2 controls were randomly selected. One was from the same industry; the other was from a big industry with thousands of punch machines. They matched on gender, job and age. In-person interviews were conducted to collect data on demographics, work history, work characteristics, work injuries, work organization, health behaviors, anthropometric and psychological factors. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) was selected to evaluate the psychological performance. Risk factors were examined via multivariate logistic regression techniques.

RESULTS

There were four important factors affecting hand injuries by punch machines: The first was the length of service index (odds ratio [OR] = 0.972, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.957, 0.988). The second index was neuroticism (OR = 1.649, 95% CI = 1.264, 2.151). A safety equipment index (OR = 0.260, 95% CI = 0.123, 0.547) and a safety operation criterion index (OR = 0.136, 95% CI = 0.064, 0.286) were also significant factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that the accident-prone population are those who have shorter service length and neurotic psychological performance. It may reduce the incidence of industrial hand injuries by punch machine to strengthen the appliance of safety equipment and enforcement of safety operation criterion, especially to the accident-prone population.