Introduction Unintentional injuries are a serious public health problem worldwide as they are leading causes of death and disability in early childhood. In India, there are not many researches done in this area which hampers efforts to identify the risk factors and thus possibilities of prevention.

Objectives To find out whether there is an increased risk of sustaining unintentional injuries at home among preschool children of employed mothers.

Methods An unmatched case-control study was done in several departments of a tertiary care hospital in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Cases were children of age 1–5 years who attended the casualty of this hospital, with complaints of unintentional injuries where as controls included those children of the same age group who attended the same centre with complaints of illness other than injuries. Caretakers were interviewed using a pretested peer reviewed structured interview schedule. Data were entered in EpiData and analysed in SPSS version 14.

Results Mothers of 38 children (25.3%) out of the 150 cases were employed, compared to 19 children (12.7%) out of the 150 controls. 25/38 children of working mothers who got injured were boys. Children with employed mother were found to be at a higher risk of developing unintentional injuries (OR: 2.3; 95% CI 1.3 to 4.3).

Conclusion Preschool children of employed mothers are at a higher risk of sustaining injuries when compared to children of unemployed mothers. Steps should be taken to address the lack of supervision of these children during mothers' working hours.