Factors associated with chemical burns in Zhejiang province, China: An epidemiological study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Yuan H Zhang¹  Chun J Ye¹  Liang F Ni¹  Rui M Jiang¹  Li P Liu¹  Chun M Han²  Guo X Chen² 

[1] Zhejiang Quhua Hospital, >No. 62, Wenchang Road, 324004, Quhua District, Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, China;the Second Affiliated Hosptial, Zhejiang University College of Medicine, No. 88, Jiefang Road, 310009, Hangzhou, Zhejinang, China;

关键词: Burn prevention;    burn treatment;    chemical burn;    epidemiology;    occupational injury;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-746

 received in 2011-03-21, accepted in 2011-09-30,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWork-related burns are common among occupational injuries. Zhejiang Province is an industrial area with a high incidence of chemical burns. We aimed to survey epidemiological features of chemical burns in Zhejiang province to determine associated factors and acquire data for developing a strategy to prevent and treat chemical burns.MethodsQuestionnaires were developed, reviewed and validated by experts, and sent to 25 hospitals in Zhejiang province to prospectively collect data of 492 chemical burn patients admitted during one year from Sept. 1, 2008 to Aug. 31, 2009. Questions included victims' characteristics and general condition, injury location, causes of accident, causative chemicals, total body surface area burn, concomitant injuries, employee safety training, and awareness level of protective measures. Surveys were completed for each of burn patients by burn department personnel who interviewed the hospitalized patients.ResultsIn this study, 417 victims (87.61%) got chemical burn at work, of which 355 victims (74.58%) worked in private or individual enterprises. Most frequent chemicals involved were hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid. Main causes of chemical injury accidents were inappropriate operation of equipment or handling of chemicals and absence of or failure to use effective individual protection.ConclusionsMost chemical burns are preventable occupational injuries that can be attributed to inappropriate operation of equipment or handling of chemicals, lack of employee awareness about appropriate action and lack of effective protective equipment and training. Emphasis on safety education and protection for workers may help protect workers and prevent chemical burns.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Zhang et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.