O36-4Evaluation of the impact of high ambient temperatures on work-related injuries in spain (1994-2013)

Introduction Extreme heat has been associated with higher rates of mortality and morbidity. Excess heat may also influence the occurrence of work-related injuries, but this hypothesis has not been previously explored in detail. We analyse the relationship between high ambient temperatures and work-r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) England), 2016-09, Vol.73 (Suppl 1), p.A69-A69
Main Authors: Martinez-Solanas, Erica, Liopez-Ruiz, Maria, Wellenius, Gregory A, Benavides, Fernando G, Basagaiona, Xavier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambient temperature
Degrees of freedom
Estimates
Injuries
Manuals
Occupational
Regression
Regression analysis
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Summary:Introduction Extreme heat has been associated with higher rates of mortality and morbidity. Excess heat may also influence the occurrence of work-related injuries, but this hypothesis has not been previously explored in detail. We analyse the relationship between high ambient temperatures and work-related injuries in Spain.MethodsDaily number of work-related injuries with at least 1 day of leave and daily maximum temperature were obtained for 50 provinces of Spain. We restricted the analysis to the warm period (May 1st-September 15th) of years 1994-2013. Poisson regression models were used to quantify in each province the association between daily injury claims and maximum temperature, adjusting for day of the week, month, year, holidays and year-specific splines of time with 3 degrees of freedom. We used a random-effects meta-analysis to obtain a national summary estimate. Analyses were stratified by sex, age, occupational class, duration of leave and economical sector.ResultsThe study included 5,636,300 work-related injuries (average of 2,042 per day). There was a positive and statistically significant association between daily maximum temperature and work-related injuries in 21 provinces. Overall, a 1 degree C increase in maximum temperature was associated with an increase in work-related injuries of 0.28% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24%, 0.32%). The highest associations were found among men (percentage change: 0.35%, 95% CI: 0.30%, 0.39%), workers younger than 24 years (0.38%, 95% CI: 0.31%, 0.44%), manual workers (0.30%, 95% CI: 0.26%, 0.34%), injuries with 4-15 days of leave (0.32%, 95% CI: 0.27%, 0.38%) and those workers performing activities in agriculture (0.75%, 95% CI: 0.61%, 0.89%), construction (0.44%, 95% CI: 0.38%, 0.51%) and extractive industries (0.40%, 95% CI: 0.16%, 0.64%).ConclusionsThis study found a consistent increase in work-related injuries associated with high ambient temperatures. If casual, specific preventive interventions may reduce occupational injuries among the most vulnerable groups of workers.
ISSN:1351-0711
DOI:10.1136/oemed-2016-103951.185