Abstract
Background: Mining is known to be one of the most hazardous occupations of the modern workforce. Wrist, hand, and finger injuries are prevalent among miners. Several previous investigations have assessed factors and circumstances related to injuries in the mining industry. However, the literature lack a thorough analysis of wrist, hand, and finger injuries.
Purpose: This study investigated the yearly trends of number and severity of wrist, hand, and finger injuries, and identified the factors that contribute to severe injuries.
Methods: The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) annual injury database from 2000 to 2017 was analyzed in this study. Wrist, hand, and finger injuries were examined with respect to accident type, nature of injury, lost workdays (LWD), activity, subunit, worker experience, source of injury, and injured fingers.
Results: 18% of the total hand, wrist, and finger injuries were responsible for 84% of the total LWD. Median LWD for these injuries were greater than 30 days. While the total number of injuries declined by 56% over the assessed period, injury severity increased by 46%. Factors associated with the highest severity included caught in accidents, fracture and amputation injuries, maintenance, operating equipment, and roof bolter activities, underground subunits. Most of the severe injuries affected multiple fingers and index fingers.
Conclusions: While the number of wrist, hand, and finger injuries in the mining industry declined from 2000 to 2017, injury severity increased. This trend in the injury data suggests that future investigations and solutions development efforts must focus on reducing injuries with high severity.