One-year incidence of occupational injuries among teenagers in a Swedish rural municipality

The aim of this study was to investigate occupational injuries among teenagers in a defined population and geographical area with regard to incidence and severity and to compare our registration system with that of the Swedish Occupational Injury Information System. All occupational accidents in the age group 15-19 years were registered at public health centres. We found a higher incidence compared to school accidents in the same age group as well as in relation to occupational accidents in the older population. Part-time work, lack of experience, temporary employment, unskilled work, and age-specific behavioural patterns are factors that might explain the higher incidence rate. The highest rates were found in service, military and unspecified occupations. Only 25% of the work-related accidents in our study were registered by the Swedish Occupational Injury System (ISA). It seems possible to reduce the number of accidents through the instigation of fairly simple measures. The coverage of the registration by the ISA seems to be incomplete.