Relationships between some individual characteristics and occupational accidents in the construction industry. Occup Health 2002;44:131

and occupational accidents in construction male labourers: 880 cases with at least one occupational accident in 1995-1996, 880 controls with no occupational accident during the previous five years, matched to cases on the job. A standardised questionnaire, filled in by the occupational physician, was used. The statistical analyses were made by the conditional logistic regression method for paired data. The main causes of accidents were handling or carrying objects, falls to a lower level, construction machinery and devices, falls on the same level, moving objects, hand tools. For all accidents combined, the factors with significant adjusted odds-ratios (OR) were: age<30 yr (OR 1.30, 95%CI 1.01-1.68), sleep disorders (1.97, 1.42-2.73), and current smoker (1.27, 1.04-1.54). Sleep disorders were a significant factor in falls to a lower level (OR 2.25, 95%CI 1.14-4.44), age<30 yr and sleep disorders for accidents caused by moving objects (4.64, 1.48-14.5 and 13.11, 2.64-65.2 respectively), and no sporting activity for injuries by handling or carrying objects (1.70, 1.11-2.60). Sleep disorders were significant for accidents with sick leave lengths of ≥15 d, whereas age<30 yr and current Received Aug 2, 2001; Accepted Jan 24, 2002 Correspondence to: N. Chau, INSERM U420, Faculté de médecine, BP 184, 54505 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, France smoker were significant for the others (≤14 d). A relationship was observed between the severity of sleep disorders and accidents. Occupational accidents are mainly due to work conditions, but certain individual characteristics may also play a role; this should be confirmed by further studies. (J Occup Health 2002; 44: 131-139