Impact of road safety interventions on traffic-related occupational injuries in Spain, 2004-2010

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of road safety interventions, including the penalty point system (PPS) and the reformed Spanish penal code (RPC), on traffic-related occupational injuries in Spain.

Methods: The study design was an interrupted time-series with a comparison group. The study group had traffic-related, occupational injuries incurred during working and commuting hours; the comparison group had non-traffic-related injuries incurred at the work site. A negative binomial regression model was used to determine the relative risk (RR) of sustaining occupational injuries for the post-intervention periods compared to the non-intervention period.

Results: Non-fatal, traffic-related injuries did not significantly change after the PPS and RPC implementations, except for those occurred in commuting hours, which increased significantly after the PPS. On the other hand, after the RPC, fatal, traffic-related injuries decreased significantly during working hours (0.79; 95%CI 0.65 to 0.97) and commuting hours (RR: 0.63; 95%CI:0.56 to 0.72), although fatal, non-traffic-related injuries also decreased at the work site.

Conclusions: Road safety interventions did not clearly affect traffic-related occupational injuries in Spain. Specific occupational risk factors could influence the occurrence of those injuries.