Managing work safety by analising injuries at work

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020

Background: A national database of work-related injuries has been established in Italy since 2002, collecting information on the injured person, his/her work tasks, the workplace and the risk factors contributing to incident dynamics, according to a model called Infor.Mo. Methods: A descriptive study of occupational fatal injuries, excluding work-related fatal traffic injuries, that occurred in Italy from 2002 to 2016 (15 years) was performed. Results: Among 4874 victims involved, all were males, mainly >51 years of age (43.2%), predominantly self-employed (27.8%) or workers with non-standard contracts (25%). About 18.4% and 17.3% of fatal events occurred in micro-enterprises belonging to, respectively, construction and agriculture. A wide range of nationalities (59 countries in addition to Italy) was identified. Overall, 18.9% of work-related fatal injuries were due to some form of hazardous energy-mechanical, thermal, electrical or chemical-that was normally present in the workplace. Workers' falls from height (33.5%), heavy loads falling on workers from height (16.7%) and vehicles exiting their route and overturning (15.9%) were the events causing the greatest proportion of occupational fatal injuries in the present study (from 2002 to 2016) and in the initial pilot phase, focused on years 2002-2004, with a similar distribution of fatal events between the two time periods. The activity of the injured person made up 43.3% of 9386 risk factors identified in 4874 fatalities. Less common risk factors were related to work equipment (20.2%), work environment (14.9%), third-party activity (9.8%), personal protective equipment/clothing (8.0%) and materials (3.7%). The activity of the injured person remained the most relevant contributing factor even when the incident was caused by two or more risk factors. Discussion: Occupational fatal injuries occurred mainly in small size firms (up to nine employees) in hazardous workplaces. Small companies, which account for 68% (2888/4249) of all firms in the present study, generally have fewer resources to remain current with the continuously evolving health and safety at work regulations; moreover, these firms tend to be less compliant with health and safety at work regulations since they are less likely to be inspected by occupational vigilance services. Perspectives: An approach being introduced in Italy relies on the use of economic incentives to promote safe and healthy workplaces. The comparison of pre-intervention and post-intervention rates of work-related injuries by means of interrupted time series analyses could detect whether the intervention will have an effect significantly greater than the underlying secular trend.

Safety at work is a challeging issue for firms and governments worldwide. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on occupational accidents. We analyze causes of injury and risk factors, economic and social consequences, Occupational Health and Safety Management System areas of priority and effectiveness of interventions. We highlight the key role of workers and of prevention programs. Accident prevention is a means of reducing negative effects of accidents and increasing productivity. Furthermore, prevention can raise creditworthiness and lower insurance premiums.

Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology Organization and Management Series

The aim of the work is to analyze the accidents at work in the selected manufacturing enterprise from automotive industry. Methodology: The research includes three workplaces: warehouseman, machine operator and transport worker. The accidents investigation was based on the methodology and work accident model developed by the EU Statistical Office (Eurostat) as a part of the European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) project. This model includes three phases: pre-accident, accident and post-accident. Findings: In the years 2019-21 in the selected workstations there were noted 25 accidents at work (12 accidents in 2019, 8 accidents in 2020 and 5 accidents in 2021). The accidents at work were analyzed taking into consideration: the type of injury and the part of body injured, the physical activity at the time of the accident, an event that is a deviation from normal practice, and causes of the accident. Practical implications: The results of the analysis allow to introduce suitable corrective actions, e.g. 5S method, 'shoptalks' about occupational health and safety, suggestion submission program, etc., what influenced the reduction of accidents at work in 2020 and 2021. Originality/value: The use of statistics for accident at work allows to evaluate the safety state in an enterprise. The statistics also allows to formulate various factors that can be used to evaluate accident rates, workstations with a special risk of accident, realization of various comparative analyzes in the area of investigation of accident situations, and corrective actions towards hazards reduction.

Journal of Engineering Studies and Research, 2016

Frequency Rate (FRR), Fatality Rate (FAR) and Severity Rate (SR) are common parameters used in communicating the research output of occupational accidental injuries. These parameters have been used to provide a model for classifying an occupational work activity into five level/degrees of safety ranging between Very Safe and Highly Unsafe. With a work activity defined as x: x  0.01, x  0.003 or x  0.03 indicates Very Safe Level while x > 0.04, x > 0.015 or x>0.11 indicates Highly Unsafe Level according to FRR, SR and FAR respectively. A case study is provided from an existing work to experiment the application of the model

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2007

This paper analyses the impact of a series of managerial and organisational factors on occupational injuries. These consist of occupational safety measures, as regards both the intensity and the orientation of risk prevention in companies, and the adoption of certain work organisation practices, quality management and the use of flexible production technologies. We estimate a negative binomial regression based on a sample of 213 Spanish industrial establishments, defining a constant random parameter to take account of non-observable heterogeneity. Our results show that occupational safety measures, the intensive use of quality management tools and the empowerment of workers all help to reduce the number of injuries. We have also confirmed the presence of synergies between the organisational factors analysed and the development of an occupational safety strategy featuring participation and the extension of prevention to all levels of the organisation.

New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption

The field of occupational safety and health is focused on identifying the risks of occupational injury or illness and applying measures to reduce them until they are eliminated. Occupational risks of occupational injury or illness from the point of view of occupational safety and health are present in all areas of activity. It is true that the magnitude of the risk is directly influenced by the degree of danger of the processes that take place in that field of activity and the probability with which they occur. Over time it has developed several forms of occupational risk analysis as a dimension. In this way, events leading to accidents or occupational diseases or to the environment can be better understood. In order to be able to measure the extent of the occupational risk of occupational injury or illness, assessment methods are used that quantify the occupational risk. The main purpose of the research study is to analyze the risks of accidents and occupational diseases taking into account the four elements of the work system: performer, means of production, production environment and workload. Following the assessment of the risks of occupational injury or improvement, managers receive information on the presence of occupational risks present in the organization, as well as the evolution of these risks when there are changes in production processes. These changes are due to changes in materials, manufacturing processes, legislative changes, upgrades, technological or environmental accidents, conversions or upgrades of production lines. The importance of the research study is represented by the identification and assessment of the risks of occupational injury and illness from the point of view of occupational safety that enter into the economic equation. Thus, we appreciate that the economic interest must not take precedence over considerations related to safety at work.

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2007

Workplace injuries are common and destructive to persons, organisations, and society. Various instruments presently exist that are designed to assess the factors underlying workplace injury. The study reports on the construct and predictive validity of a 46-item instrument, the safety perception survey (SPS), currently used to assess safety climate in industrial organisations throughout Australia. Initially, factor analysis was conducted on the data from a sample of 1238 employees from nine organisations, which indicated a one-factor solution, was the best fit. A structural equation model (SEM) linking injury rates to the safety climate measure for 16 sub-groups of six industrial organisations indicated that the measure contributed just 23% of the variance in injury rates. Interestingly, the results indicated that the number of employees was a better and more significant predictor of injury (R 2 = 0.48). It is proposed that the SPS as is would need to be modified significantly from its current form to produce improvements in validity, as in its current form the survey is no more predictive of injury than organisational size. Future research into safety climate measures should incorporate predictive validity analysis on injury rates, as for many organisations; this is a performance outcome measure.

2016

2001

Some jobs carry a greater risk of injury than others. If a job involves heavy manual labour then a greater risk of injury may be associated with it when compared with, say, a sedentary office job. The risk of workplace injury is clearly related to the job. However, previous research into the incidence of workplace injuries has also shown that some individuals appear to be more likely than others to suffer a workplace injury. This study is an attempt to unravel this puzzle using a statistical technique that can identify the risk of workplace injury associated with the affects of specific personal characteristics from those which relate to the nature of the job. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the main messages from the research report on the internet (www.hse.gov.uk/keyart.pdf). This report and the work it describes were funded by HSE. Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy. HSE BOOKS