ROAD TRAFFIC INJURIES

AND OCCUPATIONAL
INJURIES

Cour se Instr uctor: Munia Zain Islam

Depar tment of Public Health
School of Health and Life Sciences
Nor th South Univer sity
munia.islam01@nor thsouth.edu
 • 1.35 million people die each year on the world's roads
(2016), which is 1 person is killed ever y 25 seconds

• Only 28 countries, re presenting 449 million people (7%

of the world's population), have adequate laws that
address all five risk factors (speed, dr unk driving,
helmets, seat-belts and child restraints)

A Global • Majority of low-income countries have increasing

Perspective
death rates due to traffic collisions and middle-income
countries have the highest rate with 20 deaths per
100,000 inhabitants, accounting for 80% of all road
fatalities with 52% of all vehicles

• Over a third of road traffic deaths in LMICs are

among pedestrians and cyclists

• Less than 35% of LMICs have policies in place to

protect these road users
 A traffic collusion (motor vehicle collision, car
accident, or car crash) occurs when when
a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian,
animal, road debris, or other stationar y obstr uction,
Definitions: such as a tree, pole or building
• Ter ms such as "collision", "crash" or
Road "incident” are prefer red, since "accident"
implies that there is no-one to blame
• Most traffic collisions are the result of driving
Traffic under the influence, excessive speed,
distractions such as mobile phones or other
Injuries risky behavior.
• Traffic collisions often result in injur y,
disability, death, and proper ty damage as well
as financial costs to both society and the
individuals involved.
 Collisions may happen due to:
• Speeding
Why do • Not wearing helmet
• Not wearing seatbelt
collisions • Not following traffic r ules

occur? • Distracted driving and engaging in multiple

activities during driving (e.g., mobile phones,
talking with passengers, etc.)
• Fatigue (e.g., not enough rest and sleep)
 Traffic collisions can be classified by general types
including:
• Head-on collisions
• the front ends of two vehicles such as cars,
trains, ships or planes hit each other when
travelling in opposite direction
• Road departure
Types of • a type of single-vehicle collision that occurs
when a vehicle leaves the roadway (e.g., a
vehicle r unning into a roadside tree)

RTAs • Rear-end
• a vehicle crashes into the one in front of it
• Side collisions
• a vehicle crashes where the side of one or
more vehicles is impacted
• Rollovers (overturning)
• a type of vehicle crash in which a vehicle tips
over onto its side or roof
• rollovers have a higher fatality rate than other
types of vehicle collisions
 Factors contributing to the risk of collisions:
• Vehicle design
• Speed of operation
Factors • Road design

Contributing • Weather
• Road environment
to RTAs • Impair ment due to alcohol or dr ugs,
• Driving skills and behavior (e.g.,
notably ag gressive driving, distracted
driving, speeding and street racing)
 Physical
A number of physical injuries can commonly result
from the blunt force trauma caused by a collision,
ranging from br uising and contusions to catastrophic
physical injur y (e.g., paralysis) or death.
Health
Effects Psychological
Following collisions, long-lasting psychological
trauma may occur. These issues may make those who
have been in a crash afraid to drive again. In some
cases, the psychological trauma may affect individuals'
life can cause difficulty to g o to work, attend school,
or perfor m family responsibilities.
 • Safety protocols and r ules should be made compulsor y
(e.g. wearing helmets while on a two-wheeler and as
passengers, passengers should all wear seatbelts, etc.)

• Strictly enforced speed limits, especially restricting speed

limits to lower than usual in collision prone areas
• 90% of accidents can be avoided by strict
enforcement of speed limits
• Penalization drivers who cross speed limits and those
Prevention who are responsible for collisions.

• Driver’s license:
• should be suspended for driving under the influence,
recklessly, and any other reason that may be a public
safety issue
• should be obtained in a legal way through a step-by-
step process with adherence to age restrictions
• Tamper proof speed controllers should be made
mandator y for all heavy vehicles.
 • Road safety awareness should be incorporated into
cur riculum in schools and taught in homes (e.g., video
game exposure and racing, safe driving through example)
• Identification of vehicle fitness should be placed on car
windshield and vehicle owners should be penalized if
expired
• Traffic signals should be always functional and both
Prevention pedestrians and drivers should be aware and adhere to
traffic signals
• Road Tax should be fully utilized for the
constr uction/maintenance of roads
• Zebra-crossings and signals for road crossing should be
provided for pedestrians for safe road crossings at
appropriate places.
 • Estimated that worldwide there are more
than 350,000 workplace fatalities and more
than 270 million workplace injuries annually
• Occupational injuries resulted in the loss of
A Global 3.5 years of healthy life for every 1,000
workers. 300,000 of the occupational injuries
Perspective resulted in a fatality
• Overall, the most hazardous occupations are
in far ming, fishing, and forestry
• Constr uction and manufacturing occupations
in developed countries
 • An occupation injury is defined as any
personal injury, disease or death resulting
from an occupational accident
Definitions: • Most common organs involved are spine,
hands, the head, lungs, eyes, skeleton, and
skin
Occupational • Occupational injuries can result from
exposure to occupational hazard (physical,
Injuries chemical, biological, or psychosocial), such
as temperature, noise, insect or animal
bites, blood-borne pathogens, aerosols,
hazardous chemicals, radiation, and
occupational burnout
 • Slips, trips and falls (STF)
• Prevention: With the availability of patient
lifts, improved worker training, and allocation
of more time to perfor m work procedures
Occupational • Carpal tunnel syndrome associated with over use
of the hands and wrists
Injuries & • Prevention: reducing stress and strain to hands
• Noise exposure in the workplace can cause
Prevention hearing loss
• Prevention: purchase tools and machines that
produce less noise
Preventing or reducing industrial injuries, including
doing risk assessments through root analysis, safety
training, control banding, providing personal
protective equipment safety guards, mechanisms on
machiner y, and safety barriers.
 • Road Traffic Accidents and Occupational
Injuries are both types of injuries that occur
Key due to various factors that are controllable
through various prevention strategies and
Summary awareness.
Points • By incorporating public health safety
measure in daily activities, Road Traffic
Accidents and Occupation Injuries can be
avoided.