FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN TAIWAN - RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FATALITYRATE AND AGE

Accident reports from the 1230 work-related single fatalities in the y ears 1989, 1990, and 1992 were collected and analyzed to reveal the si gnificant factors contributing to such fatalities. The aggregated and disaggregated fatality rates of twelve accident types were standardize d using the total number of workers of the same age, gender, and indus try. The standardized fatality rates were subjected to the analysis of variance using age, gender, industry, worker's experience, source of injury, and size of the company as the independent variables. It was d iscovered that industry and age were the main significant factors, and the interaction effect between industry and age was significant for t he fatality rates of almost all accident types. The relationship betwe en age and mean fatality rate differed depending upon the industry and accident type. Fatality rate has a significant rising trend with age for falls, collapse, being struck by and against, falling objects, exp losion, drowning, and slipping and tripping accidents. Fatality rate o f electric shock declined significantly with age. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd.