Occupational injuries and associated factors among cement factory workers in the city of Chlef, Algeria

To do that, we collected ten years’ worth of data (2014–2024) from 200 of 204 invited workers (98 % response rate) in the Entreprise des Ciments et Dérives d’Ech-Cheliff (Chlef Cement and Derivatives Company, ECDE) across areas of operations including technical, electrical, machinery, maintenance, mechanical, shipping, quarry, and supervision.

The instrument used for this purpose combines concepts, models, and a standardised questionnaire developed based on previously published studies, slightly modified for our purpose (15). It contains an introduction describing the objectives and two main aspects of the study: respondent information and accident information. The first includes information about the participants, including age, marital status, education level, working years, and specific occupation. The second focuses on information about the number, time, and cause of accidents, the severity and location of injuries, duration of sick leave, and use of protective equipment and preventive measures. The questionnaire was administered in Arabic and English. Before administration, it had been tested on 5 % of the sample size to check comprehension and was modified based on the collected feedback.

All participants gave their verbal consent after having been fully informed about the study and its importance. All the information given by the respondents was used for research purposes only, and confidentiality of the information was maintained by omitting their names and other identifying information. The study was approved by the University of Chlef, Department of Mechanical Engineering (approval no. 21/2025).

Table 1 shows their sociodemographic data. All participants were male, most older than 45 years, employed for over 10 years, and married. As many as 44 % held a university degree.

Fifty-three respondents (26.5 %) reported having been injured at work over the last 10 years, of whom 49 reported one and the rest two or more injuries over that time, totalling 64 injuries. The most common were hand and foot injuries (82 %) (Figure 1) and were most often caused by machinery (39 %) and falls (27 %) (Figure 2).

Figure 1

Prevalence of injuries (N=64) by body parts reported by Chlef cement factory workers (N=53)

Figure 2

Distribution of causes of injuries (N=64) by causes reported by Chlef cement factory workers (N=53). Environment relates to poor lighting and extreme temperatures. Personal reasons include fatigue, inattention, or improper handling of equipment. Other includes coworker errors, transportation incidents within the factory, and unforeseen hazards not classified under other categories

Table 2 summarises health and safety practices adopted at the workplace. Most respondents reported having received health and safety training, and nearly all having regularly used protective equipment. In addition, nearly all considered that training improved their behaviour in terms of occupational health and safety practices.

Table 3 shows that higher education, more than ten years of work, and work in the quarry were significantly more associated with work-related injuries than lower education, shorter working years, and work in other operation areas (grinding, kiln, shipping, and storage).

Our respondents had lower prevalence of occupational injuries compared to those working at a cement plant in Ethiopia (48.9 %) in 2020 (15) but higher than reported for cement plant workers in Nigeria (19.6 %) in 2011 (17). This variation may be owed to differences in participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, working environments, and study designs across this time span. Unfortunately, we could not compare our findings with other reports of occupational injuries in cement industry in Algeria, as there are none available.

Our cement plant workers with secondary education were more likely to sustain work-related injuries than those with higher education, which suggests that education may increase risk awareness and adherence to safety protocols. However, even though workers with more than ten years of experience would be expected to better follow safety practices, they seem to be significantly more likely to experience injuries than those who had worked for less than years. This finding points to other contributing factors, most notably associated with long-term risk exposure.

Hands and feet were the most commonly injured body parts, which is consistent with the nature of physical labour in a cement factory and with other similar reports from the wider region (18, 19).

Our study has also identified machinery and falls as the most frequent causes of occupational injuries, which is in line with other similar studies (11, 18).

The analysis revealed that workers in the quarry area were more likely to sustain work-related injuries than workers in grinding, at the kiln, or in shipping and storage. Work at the quarry involves hazardous operations such as drilling, blasting, and extraction of raw material, and the rate of serious injuries in this area is alarmingly high, 26 %. This finding underscores the urgent need to improve safety measures in this high-risk environment.

In contrast, our respondents report a commendable level of occupational safety practices: 98.5 % had received safety training, 99 % had regularly used personal protective equipment, and 97.5 % found their workplace behaviour improved after safety training. These findings indicate that despite the nearly universal adoption of safety training programs and the use of personal protective equipment the high prevalence of occupational injuries may be owed to other factors at both the worker and company level. These factors warrant further investigation to develop a more comprehensive approach to injury prevention in cement factories.

Regardless of its limitations, our study has identified key factors increasing the risk of occupational injuries in cement industry, at least in the Chlef factory, namely education, working years, and quarry operations. Quite expectedly, it has also identified upper and lower extremities as most at risk of injury. Moreover, long-term exposure to risks, rather than just inexperience, appears to be a significant contributor to workplace accidents, highlighting the need for a reassessment of ongoing safety training and monitoring for experienced workers.

Future research should explore how organisational factors such as workload, work hours, job stress, and the state of machinery contribute to the risk of occupational injuries. A mixed-method approach incorporating quantitative data and qualitative insights from workers and management could provide a more comprehensive view of occupational risks and safety practices. Expanding research to several cement plants in Algeria and other regions would also help contextualise these findings and guide policy improvements.