Prevalence of injury and utilization of personal protective equipment among building construction workers and associated factors in Bale and West Arsi Zones, southeast Ethiopia 2022

In this research 406 building construction workers were interviewed and 393 participants gave complete responses, yielding a 96.8% response rate. Of all participants included in this study, 27 (6.8%) drink alcohol and 26 (6.6%) chew khats. Uses of personal protective equipment among study participants was 133 (33.3%, with a 95% confidence interval of 28.3% to 37.7%). Of 393 participants in this study, 213 (54.2%) of them sustained at least one building work-related injury in the last year. The commonest type of injury that occurred among this population was abrasion 43.3% followed by muscular pain (13%). Not having orientation about personal protective equipment, without safety training, didn't use personal protective equipment, and rural residence were factors significantly associated with injury among building construction workers. Residence, age, monthly income, service year, orientation about personal protective equipment, safety training, and start using personal protective equipment immediately after the job offers were significantly associated with the uses of personal protective equipment by participants of this study. In general, this study has identified a relatively high prevalence of injury and low use of personal protective equipment in the study subjects and associated factors.