A study of major factors associated with severe occupational hand injury in Hong Kong island

A retrospective study of 383 cases of severe occupational hand injury was carried out in Hong Kong island between September 1979 and October 1980. Among these victims, two groups of workers found specially liable to occupational hand injury were the machine operators with less than 1 year of experience and the new immigrants from China. Inadequacy in training, in safety supervision and in the use of safety devices among machine operators, long working hours in general and the male sex were factors associated with over 50 per cent of the total injuries. Poor machine design, adverse work environment and personal risk factors were associated with only small proportions of occupational injury.link_to_subscribed_fulltex