Economic Costs and Predictors of Occupation-related Injury from Employers Perspectives at Manufacturing Industries in Ethiopia: Top-down Approach and Friction Method

Abstract Background Studies have documented the prevalence and associated factors of occupation-related injuries in manufacturing industries worldwide. However, sufficient information remains scarce on the economic burdens of occupation-related injuries in Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to bridge this gap by quantifying economic costs and predictors of occupation-related injury from employers’ perspectives in Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was employed to estimate the employer-side economic cost of occupation-related injury from December 2021 to March 2022. This study used a top-down approach to compute direct costs, while the friction method was used for indirect costs estimation. Injury data were obtained from the Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs and the industries, while costs data were from workers’ compensation records. The insurance company’s injury compensation record was triangulated with industries data. The study collected primary data via a structured questionnaire from randomly selected 1,136 injured cases. Data analysis was carried out with STATA version 14 software. A generalized linear model was used to identify the predictors of the total cost. Statistical significance was accepted at P < 0.05. It applied Gamma distribution and identity link function. Direction and strength of association were expressed using exponentiate coefficients with a 95% confidence interval. Results From the perspective of the employers, the total cost of occupational–related injury was 22,587,635.32 Ethiopian birr (537,800.84 $).Indirect and direct costs accounted for 65.86% and 34.14% of the overall expenses, respectively. Long-term absence from work (exp (b) = 0.85, p < 0.01), having a sleeping disorder (exp (b) = 0.90, p 0.039), co-morbidity (exp (b) = 0.85, p < 0.001), and severity (type) of injury (exp (b) = 1.11, p < 0.001) were predictors significantly associated with the total cost variability. Conclusions Employers’ toll of occupation-related injuries represents severe economic implications. The influential factors that elevated the total cost variation were; long-term absence from work, unsafe acts of the workers, having a sleeping disorder, co-morbidity, and severity (type) of injury. Therefore, the identified modifiable factors are the areas of intervention to reduce the cost of occupation-related injuries.