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Examination of Personal Factors in Work Accidents

Halim Isever

Department of Public Health, Istanbul University, Çapa, Istanbul, Turkey, hissever{at}istanbul.edu.tr

Kürsat Özdilli

Institute of Health, Haliç University, Istanbul

Levent Önen

Faculty of Science and Letters, Departments of Psychology, Maltepe University

Oktay Tan

Safety Inspector, Baytur Construction & Contracting Company, Istanbul Turkey

Rian Diçi

Institute of Health, Haliç University, Istanbul

Oktay Yardmc

Workplace Physician, Baytur Construction & Contracting Company, Istanbul Turkey

Accidents, by their nature, are sudden events that may cause physical and emotional damage. There are usually several reasons for accidents. In general, the causes of accidents at work may be divided into two. First, unsafe conditions; second, attitudes to the work that cannot be guaranteed. It is the second cause that shows that in spite of good working conditions personal characteristics are very important factors in work accidents.

This research examines the effect of personal factors on work accidents in a safe work place where 1200 workers work. Our experimental group of research participants were 50 injured workers who came to the infirmary in May—June 2000. The participants' demographic properties were determined with the help of a questionnaire, then they were given the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), a Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), the Benton Visual Retention Test, the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI). A control group was formed from 150 randomly chosen workers who worked at the same place. The same tests were administered to the control group with a one to one interview technique.

At the end of the evaluations it was found the injured experimental group participants had lower scores in Benton's test, higher scores in the EPQ questions on neuroticism and 24 h general tiredness. Differences between the experimental and control groups were statistically significant (p<0.05). There were no significant differences for other variables (p>0.05).

As a result, we believe work entrance health examinations should be given more importance for those work places which have a high risk of accidents. Work entrance must depend on evaluation of the personal characteristics of workers.

Key Words: Work Accident • Personal Factors • Human factors

Indoor and Built Environment, Vol. 17, No. 6, 562-566 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X08098673


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