title: Compensation patterns following occupational injuries in Zambia: results from the 2009 Labour Survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Occupational injuries have received limited research attention in the Southern African Development Community. Much of the published data come from South Africa and little has been reported elsewhere within the region. The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence rates of occupational injuries and compensation; and to determine factors associated with occupational injuries and compensation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from occupational health and injury questions added to the Zambian Labour Force Survey of 2009 by the Work and Health in Southern Africa programme. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the degree of association between demographic, social and economic factors on one hand and injury and compensation on the other.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data on 61871 study participants were available for analysis, of whom 4998 (8.1%) reported having been injured (10.0% of males, and 6.2% of females) due to work in the previous 12 months to the survey. Of those injured, 60.5% reported having stayed away from work as a result. The commonest type of injury was "open wound" (81.6%). Male gender, being married or married before, being a paid employee, working for a private company and household were positively associated with serious injuries. Injuries also varied by geographical area. Factors positively associated with receiving compensation for work-related injuries were: male gender, Copperbelt and North-Western provinces, and unpaid family worker. Employer/self employed and having less than 5 employees in a workplace were negatively associated with compensation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of reported injury and its association with a significant level of absence from work, indicate that occupational hazards in Zambia have significant health and economic effects. Female workers should equally be compensated for injuries suffered as their male counterparts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Division of Community Health, College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi. amuula@medcol.mw.
authors.forename: Seter
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siziya
authors.forename: Adamson S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Muula
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rudatsikira
references.citation: J Occup Environ Med. 2008 Jul;50(7):804-8
references.pmid: 18617836
references.citation: Bull World Health Organ. 1993;71(3-4):317-21
references.pmid: 8324850
references.citation: Paraplegia. 1978 May;16(1):94-101
references.pmid: 733292
references.citation: Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2009 May-Jun;16(3):156-62
references.pmid: 19437310
references.citation: Occup Med (Lond). 2009 May;59(3):191-4
references.pmid: 19286993
references.citation: East Afr Med J. 1979 Sep;56(9):445-9
references.pmid: 520264
references.citation: East Mediterr Health J. 2008 May-Jun;14(3):697-703
references.pmid: 18720634
references.citation: S Afr Med J. 1987 Mar 21;71(6):364-7
references.pmid: 3494317