Workplace accidents of teaching staff in Rhineland-Palatinate An analysis based on accident report forms during the schoolyears 2012/2013 and 2013/2014

Objectives Besides having direct negative impacts on the persons affected, accidents can have profound consequences for employers and colleagues alike, who have to compensate for the temporary loss of manpower. In the case of teachers this can mean covering lessons or even cancellation of lessons. Accidents involving teachers have rarely been the target of scientific studies in Germany. Thus, the current study aimed to describe workplace accidents of teaching staff in Rhineland-Palatinate. A specific focus was on the description of who was affected by accidents, what caused the accident, the time and place of accidents and the potential health consequences. Furthermore, the association of accident-related factors with temporary incapacity for work was examined. Methods The data used were extracted from accident report forms, which were sent to and processed by the Institute for Teachers' Health in Mainz (Germany) during the school years 2012/2013 and 2013/2014. As criteria for inclusion accidents must have occurred at a public school in Rhineland-Palatinate during the target periods and the person involved in the accident was a tenured member of the teaching staff. To compare the number of accidents between different sociodemographic groups, the number of accidents per 1000 full-time employees was used. Poisson regression models were applied to assess associations between accident-specific characteristics and temporary incapacity to work. Results Overall, 847 workplace accidents were reported during the 2 school years under observation. Accidents occurred most frequently for teachers at special schools and specific secondary schools and women and younger teachers were also more frequently affected. Gymnasiums/playing fields (27.0%) and the classroom (18.5%) were the most frequent accident sites and falls were the leading accident mechanism (44.5%). Accidents resulted mainly in bruises (30.9%) and lacerations (27.9%). Approximately half of the accidents resulted in a temporary incapacity to work (41.1%) and 6.1% in hospitalization. There was a higher risk of incapacity for work with increasing age, accidents on stairs or in the gymnasium/playing fields, falls, involvement of lower extremities or the chest/abdominal area and in cases of lacerations, sprains and fractures. Conclusion Evaluation of causes and circumstances of accidents is an important first step to identify accident black spots and to implement targeted preventive measures.