Occupational injuries in Saudi Arabia during the period from 2016 to 2018

Occupational injuries are unplanned events that is responsible for a significant proportion of employees' absences and disabilities. Occupational injuries can lead to considerable costs for employers, put a burden on health care services, and can hurt infected workers' long-term health, and social and economic status. This study presents a perspective on the comparison of occupational injuries in Saudi Arabia from 2016 to 2018. The novelty of this study lies in its comprehensive consideration of multiple factors influencing occupational injuries. Employee-related factors, such as age, gender, and nationality, as well as geographical-related factors including office locations, and activity-related factors including sector and occupation, were considered. Additionally, accident-related factors, namely causes, were also considered. Age, occupation, and accident causes were analyzed by injury count, while gender, nationality, office, and sector were analyzed by incidence rate (injuries per 100,000 employees per year). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine if there is a statistically significant difference among the groups with 95 % confidence level. Tukey’s test was used when there is a significant difference between groups. The findings revealed that the incidence of accident injuries from 2016 to 2018 has a declining trend. For instance, in 2016, 2017, and 2018, the number of workplace accidents were 50602, 37109, and 32557, respectively. The number of injuries was found to vary with age, with those 25–39 having the highest number of injuries. Results revealed that the incidence rate varied by gender (male employees had a higher rate), nationality (foreign employees had a higher rate), office (the Ahsa office had the highest rate), and sector (with a higher rate in the manufacturing industry sector). Finally, it was found that falls, strikes, and collisions have higher injury rates. The study contributes to provide a thorough understanding of occupational injuries and identify areas with the highest concentration of injuries.