Characteristics of Fatal Occupational Traumatic Injuries; Drama in East Azerbaijan Province of Iran.

Objectives: To determine the characteristics and etiologies of occupational trauma associated mortality in Tabriz megacity, Northern Iran.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we included all the recorded cases of occupational mortalities referring to Tabriz forensic medicine center, labor institute and Imam Reza and Sina hospitals between March 2011 and March 2012. We recorded the demographic and clinical characteristics including age, gender, type of occupational accident, experience of work and permanent or temporary jobs for all the cases. The death etiology was also recorded according to the forensic medicine report. The data are presented as descriptive analytics.

Results: Overall we included 32 occupational trauma associated mortality out of whom 30 (93.8%) were men and 2 (6.2%) were women. The mean age of the patients was 44.1±16.3 years old with most of them (31.3%) being younger than 30 years old. The occupation was recorded to be structural in 13 (40.6%), industrial in 5 (15.6%), agricultural in 5 (15.6%) and office work in 6 (18.8%). In 20 (62.5%) patients the occupation was seasonal and in 12 (37.5%) was permanent. Summer was the most common season in which occupational trauma associated mortality was recorded (40.6%) followed by fall by 34.4% of all mortalities. Most frequent causes of occupational traumas were the result of nonuse of safety wares (71.9%), inattention during work time (84.4%) and inappropriate instructions (18.8%).

Conclusion: Most of the fatalities occurred in young and less-experienced workers, not having enough attention while working. Regarding this fact we conclude that with continuous education and supervision especially in young workers, most of the occupational accidents are preventable.