Profiles of women who have suffered occupational accidents in cleaning: perceived health, psychosocial risks, and personality variables

Abstract

Purpose: The main goal was to identify the variables (sociodemographic, work, psychosocial, perceived health, and personality) associated with occupational accidents suffered in the past by women in the cleaning sector. Methods: A sample of 455 women was evaluated. Results: A total of 23.5% of the workers (n = 107) had suffered an occupational accident with medical leave. In general, women who had suffered some accident in their life had a worse situation in all areas evaluated. Two subsamples of women had a greater association with accidents. Specifically, the presence of work accidents was 15.9 times higher among those who presented a worse perception of their physical effort and a greater tendency towards risky behaviours and 13.5 times higher among those who had a moderate perception of physical exertion and a disability. Conclusion: In general, the characteristics of female workers were found to be associated with different accident rates. Preventive actions should be designed individually.