Injury in Construction Site of Bangladesh - Findings from a Nationwide Cross Sectional Survey

Background: Construction sites are recognized for high rates of injury in all over the world. Construction workers, even non-workers such as pedestrians and children are victim of injury at construction sites. In Bangladesh no reliable statistics is available on injury in construction site, mainly due to lack of well-maintained health information documentation system. In this study, Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey (BHIS) 2005 data was analyzed to describe the incidence, disability, population at risk and costing for the injuries occurred in the construction site.

Methodology: A nationwide cross-sectional survey was carried out from January to December in 2003 among 171,366 rural and urban households, with a sample of 819,429 populations.

Results: Incidence of injury in construction site was found to be 16.96/100,000 population per year. Of the injured 81.6% (n=114) were working on the construction site during the incidence. Males are more vulnerable with a risk of 12.46 times higher than female. Approximately 84.1% (n=117) of the injured were from the poor socio-economic conditions with a monthly income less than $100. Common injuries include cut by sharp weapon 29.0% (n=40), injury caused by falling objects 22.3% (2=31) and fall injury 21.7% (n=30). Moreover, among the injured 65.0% (n=90) were daily labourers and 1% (N=1) of the casualty continued to have lifelong persistent problems with disabilities.

Conclusion: High rates of construction site related injury was found among the populations of Bangladesh. Construction workers as well non workers, children are also victims of injury in construction site. National strategy is needed to be developed and implemented to minimize this public health burden. Therefore, formulation of a national strategy and its appropriate implementation is of crucial importance to minimize this public health burden.