Abstract
BACKGROUND: It is estimated that 17% of the world's total non-fatal occupational injuries occur in India, leading to severe injuries and absences from work. Despite its magnitude and seriousness, occupational injury remains a neglected public health concern in the country. This systematic review examines the prevalence of and associated risk factors for non-fatal occupational injuries among male workers in India. METHODOLOGY: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases from 1 November 2023 to 31 December 2023. This review includes studies published between 2000 and 2023. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using appropriate tools, and meta-analysis was conducted using STATA version 17. We defined a non-fatal occupational injury that has occurred in the workplace while a worker is performing their duties, resulting in physical injury that temporarily or permanently impairs the worker's ability to perform their job effectively, and restricts the worker from working at least one day after the injury occurred (i.e., absence from work). All the selected articles were systematically reviewed by two researchers, and the contributing factors to non-fatal occupational injuries were extracted from each article. Based on their characteristics, these risk factors were classified into five major categories: (1) socio-demographic factors, (2) behavioral and psychological factors, (3) organizational and work-related behavioral factors, (4) occupation-related factors, and (5) workplace safety and environmental factors. RESULTS: Fifty-three studies met our inclusion criteria. In terms of methodological quality, 16 studies were rated as good quality, while 37 were rated as moderate quality. The pooled prevalence of non-fatal occupational injuries among male workers was 38.45% (95% CI: 29.47 to 47.44). Subgroup analyses indicated statistically significant differences in the prevalence of non-fatal injuries across occupational sites and study quality (p < 0.05). We found that younger age, less work experience, substance use, job dissatisfaction, engagement in unskilled and manual labor, long working hours, less availability, and low or no usage of personal protective equipment (PPE), and lack of occupational health and safety (OHS) knowledge and awareness are strong risk factors for non-fatal injuries. The most frequently reported injury types were wounds/cuts/bleeding, burn/acid burn and fracture or dislocation. The findings also showed that falls from a height or same level and being hit by a falling object are the most common causes of accidents at the workplace. Regarding the injured body parts, eyes, hand fingers, and legs are the most commonly affected body parts involved in non-fatal injuries. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate that non-fatal occupational injuries are significantly influenced by various risk factors. To reduce their prevalence, it is essential to implement effective safety measures, including the mandatory use of PPE, regular OHS training, and adequate supervision. Employers are also encouraged to adopt preventive and treatment strategies that address controllable factors associated with non-fatal injuries. Furthermore, future research on prevention strategies across and within industries can play a vital role in further reducing the incidence of non-fatal occupational injuries. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The study protocol has been registered with PROSPERO (registration number CRD420251102239).