Investigation of non-fatal occupational injury and their causes among food delivery riders in China

The increasing popularity of online food delivery has provided multiple job opportunities. Although food delivery riders benefit from work flexibility, they face occupational risk and suffer accidents and injuries. This study attempts to provide a new perspective on protective measures for delivery riders by examining the causes of injuries at the individual level. A respondent-driven sampling method was used to control data bias, and a total of 1092 online food delivery riders in Beijing, Shanghai and Jinan participated in the survey. The results indicated that: good personal norms are negatively related to non-fatal occupational injury among riders; perceived risk mediates this relationship; and safety attitudes moderate the relationship. These results may help platform enterprises to voluntarily implement more effective and comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of riders, while also inspiring government when developing labor protection regulation for riders.