TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2008//
TI  - Epidemiology of occupational injury among cleaners in the healthcare sector
JO  - Occupational medicine
A1  - Alamgir, H.
A1  - Yu, Seungdo
SP  - 393
EP  - 399
VL  - 58
IS  - 6
N2  - BACKGROUND: The cleaning profession has been associated with multiple ergonomic and chemical hazards which elevate the risk for occupational injury. AIMS: This study investigated the epidemiology of occupational injury among cleaners in healthcare work settings in the Canadian province of British Columbia. METHODS: Incidents of occupational injury among cleaners, resulting in lost time from work or medical care, over a period of 1 year in two healthcare regions were extracted from a standardized operational database and with person-years obtained from payroll data. Detailed analysis was conducted using Poisson regression modeling. RESULTS: A total of 145 injuries were identified among cleaners, with an annual incidence rate of 32.1 per 100 person-years. After adjustment for age, gender, subsector, facility, experience and employment status, Poisson regression models demonstrated that a significantly higher relative risk (RR) of all injury, musculoskeletal injury and cuts was associated with cleaning work in acute care facilities, compared with long-term care facilities. Female cleaners were at a higher RR of all injuries and contusions than male cleaners. A lower risk of all injury and allergy and irritation incidents among part-time or casual workers was found. Cleaners with>10 years of experience were at significantly lower risk for all injury, contusion and allergy and irritation incidents. CONCLUSIONS: Cleaners were found to be at an elevated risk of all injury categories compared with healthcare workers in general.  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0962-7480
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqn028
ID  - ref1
ER  -