Scand J Work Environ Health Online-first -article pdf
https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4331 | Published online: 01 Oct 2026
Asymmetric impact of the 2012 Occupational Health and Safety Law on occupational injury and disease reporting in Türkiye: An interrupted time series analysis with emphasis on emerging female occupational disease patterns
Objectives This study aimed to characterize 18-year trends in occupational injury (OI) and recognized occupational disease (OD) in Türkiye’s compensation-based surveillance, with emphasis on emerging female disease patterns and on the impact of the 2012 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Law.
Methods We extracted nationwide annual data (2007–2024) from Social Security Institution Statistical Yearbooks. We computed rates per 100 000 insured, the OI/OD ratio, and sex-stratified International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10) sub-code distributions. Segmented regression with two intervention points used Newey–West heteroscedasticity- and autocorrelation-consistent (HAC) standard errors.
Results The proportion of recognized OD among women rose from 0.9% (2007) to 25.5% (2024) but with marked asymmetry: respiratory OD remained 96% male while nervous-system OD shifted from 24% female (2018) to 75% female (2024), driven by ICD-10 G62.2 toxic polyneuropathy (26 of 40 female cases in 2024). Female musculoskeletal OD rose from 20% to 34% with dominant upper-extremity repetitive-motion sub-codes; no female silicosis was recorded 2018–2024. Annual OI rose 9.1-fold (80 602 to 733 646); recognized OD declined (1208 to 888). The 2012 OHS Law produced an OI level change of +584 per 100 000 (P<0.001) but no statistically significant OD level change (P=0.32); the OI/OD ratio rose from 67 to 826.
Conclusions The convergence of women’s share of OD toward 25% masks marked diagnostic asymmetries: women are visible primarily through feminized service-sector and chemical-exposure categories and scarcely in pneumoconioses. Reform priorities include diagnosis-stage notification, active screening of female workers in mixed-exposure environments, and gender-sensitive occupational history-taking.
Key terms engineered stone silicosis; female worker; gender bias; interrupted time series analysis; musculoskeletal disorder; occupational disease pattern; occupational disease surveillance; Occupational Health and Safety Law; pneumoconiosis; toxic polyneuropathy; Türkiye; worker compensation
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