Occupational injuries in a commune in rural Vietnam transitioning from agriculture to new industries.

Objectives: We explored the impact on work-related injuries of workers splitting time between industry and agriculture, a common situation in developing countries.

Methods: In 2005, we administered a cross-sectional survey to 2615 households of Xuan Tien, a developing rural community of Vietnam, regarding self-reported injuries and hours worked for 1 year. We defined groups as working in industry, agriculture, or a mix of both.

Results: Overlapping employment (part time in agriculture and up to full time in industry) increased the risk of injury in both agricultural and industrial work. This pattern held across all work groups defined by the relative amount of time worked in agriculture. Those working fewer than 500 hours annually in agriculture had an agricultural injury rate (872 per 1000 full-time equivalents) that was more than 4 times higher than the average rate overall (203 per 1000) and the rate for workers employed only in industry (178 per 1000).

Conclusions: Working in agriculture for short durations while working in industry increased the risk of injury substantially in both types of work.