Objective: This study aimed to document health burden from work-related injury in seven lower southern provinces of Thailand with breakdown by gender, age and type of industry of the victims. Data were retrieved from records of Workers' Compensation Fund 2006. The text files were manipulated to become spreadsheets from which the injuries were coded using ICD-10. From the ICD-10 code, disability levels were looked up for further calculation of due to living with disability (YLD: years lost due to disability). Of 5,332 cases reported, in 1,582 (29.7%) ICD-10 code were not available in the disability look up table.

Result: The rate of DALY (disability adjusted life years) per 1,000 employees among the 7 provinces ranged from 0.4 to 17.2 years. Males accounted for 56% of the DALY. Employees aged 15-29 years had among the highest DALY in Narathiwat, Pattani and Trang. In Songkhla, Yala and Phattalung, the 30-44 year age group had the highest risk losing 280.9, 77.9 and 2.8 DALYs, respectively. The main causes of DALY in Yala and Narathiwat were road traffic injuries. In Songkhla, Satun and Phattalung, the main cause of DALY was inanimate mechanical forces. In Pattani the main cause was homicide and violence. The types of industry with the highest loss in Narathiwat, Pattani and Pattalung were trade and business. The respective industries in Songkhla, Satun, Yala and Trang were services, survey and mining, construction and forestry and wood product.

These causes and at-risk industries need to be taken into account in the planning to improvement of local workforce.