Work-Related Injuries From Mandatory Fitness Training Among Swedish Firemen

A considerable amount of employees incur injuries in professions with mandatory on-duty fitness training. The training is necessary for maintaining a good health status, physical condition and strength in professions requiring such qualities. Injuries in Swedish firemen from on-duty fitness training between 1992 and 1998 were selected retrospectively from the Information System of Occupational Injuries (ISA) at the National Board of Occupational Safety and Health and, if having caused a sick-leave exceeding 2 weeks, to the Labour Market Insurance (AMF Insurance). The latter comprised injuries from 1995 only. During the seven-year period 1468 injuries from fitness training occurred in male firemen. With an estimated 147 h per man and year the injury incidence was 2.6 per 10 000 h of exposure. The mean number of days of absence from work was 24.1 days (SD 39.8). In 1995, the mean cost per injury for medical treatment was close to 7000 Euro and for production loss almost 4500 Euro. By far the major part of the injuries, 75 %, occurred during team and contact sports (primarily floorball and soccer) and this sport category also accounted for 83 % of the medical costs and 78 % of the costs for production loss. It is suggested that a restriction of team and contact sports as mandatory on-duty fitness training for firemen should be tested and evaluated concerning the injury incidence.

Key words:

Epidemiology, costs, occupational injuries, sports injuries.

References

• 1 de Loës M. Epidemiology of sports injuries in the swiss organization ‘Youth and Sports’ 1987 - 89. Injuries, exposure and risks of main diagnosis.  lnt J Sports Med. 1995;  16 134-138
• 2 Ellam L D, Fieldman G B, Garlick J, Goldsmith R, Pateman C. Initial training as a stimulus for optimal physical fitness in firemen.  Ergonomics. 1994;  37 933-934
• 3 Gerkin D. Firefighters. Fitness for duty.  Occup Med. 19 95;  10 871-876
• 4 Jansson B, Springfeldt B, Bengtsson B, Landgren B. National cost surveillance of occupational injuries using a record linkage.  Submitted.
• 5 Lusa S, Louhevaara V, Smolander J, Kinnunen K, Korhonen O, Soukainen J. Biomechanical evaluation of heavy tool-handling in two age groups of firemen.  Ergonomics. 1991;  34 1429-1432
• 6 . Occupational diseases and occupational accidents 1997 .Official Statistics of Sweden. Stockholm; National Board of Occupational Safety and Health and Statistics Sweden 1999
• 7 Persson U. Three economic approaches to valuing benefits of traffic safety measures. Lund; Licentiate dissertation in economics at Lund University 1992
• 8 Reichelt P A, Conrad K M. Musculoskeletal injury: ergonomics and physical fitness in firefighters.  Occup Med. 1995;  10 735-746
• 9 . RFV, National Social Insurance Board .Official statistics of Sweden. Stockholm; Statistics Sweden 1999
• 10 . Statistics Sweden .The information-system on occupational injuries and the investigation on occupationally caused impairment. Background facts for the statistics of the Labour market and Education. (SCB: lnformationssystemet om arbetsskador och undersökningen om arbetsorsakade besvär - En jämförande studie. Bakgrundsfakta till Arbetsmarknads- och utbildningsstatistiken 1999: 4. In Swedish). Stockholm; 1999
• 11 Williford H N, Duey W J, Olson M S, Howard R, Wang N. Relationship between fire fighting suppression tasks and physical fitness.  Ergonomics. 1999;  42 1179-1186