Self-care is made visible through the behaviors or actions that people carry out in order to promote health and prevent risks. The objective through the evaluation of the capacity of the Self-Care Agency is to identify its association with the accident rate in workers of a company in the metalworking sector. Methods: in this cross-sectional, observational study with an analytical component, the population corresponded to 118 operative workers of a company in the metalworking sector in whom the measurement instrument Assessment of the Self-Care Agency was applied based on Orem's Theory, complemented with variables related to the work environment. The data analysis was descriptive and the levels of the Self-Care Agency were compared based on the characteristics of the subjects using the Chi2 test. The data were processed using the SPSS version 24 statistical program. The work was approved by the research ethics committee of the Universidad del Rosario by means of communication DVO005 1094 –CV1163. Results: 15 work accidents were identified corresponding to 12.71% of the population. The Self-Care agency level rating for the evaluated population was found to be between the acceptable level and very good for 112 (94.9%) cases compared with the 6 (5.1%) cases that registered a poor rating. For the cases reported with work accidents, in 46.7% (7 cases) the Self-Care Agency evaluation was found to be deficient (1 case) and acceptable level (6 cases). Young adults between 20 and 35 years old with 8 cases represent 53.30% of the accident rate. Discussion: The accident rate data reflect its association with the level of self-care agency. The results of the questioning of the work environment suggest a commitment to the safety and health of workers.
