The Relationship between the Economic Consequences of Accidents and Safety  Measures: A Case Study

Ahmad  Soltanzadeh; Fatemeh  Ghaderi; Samira  Ghiyasi; Milad   Moohammadi

doi:10.18502/aoh.v5i4.7971

Ahmad Soltanzadeh Department of Occupational Health & Safety Engineering, Research Center for Environmental Pollutants, Faculty of Health, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran
Fatemeh Ghaderi Department of Health, Safety, and Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran
Samira Ghiyasi Department of Environmental Engineering, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Milad Moohammadi Department of Environmental Engineering, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/aoh.v5i4.7971

Keywords: Occupational accident; Economic consequence; Accidents cost; Safety index

Abstract

Background: Accidents impose harmful economic consequences for workers, employers, and society. The present study aimed to evaluate the economic consequences of occupational accidents.

Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in the Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company in 2020. Data collection tools were a checklist and a researcher-made questionnaire. The reliability of this questionnaire was calculated through Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS statistical software and the significance level was considered 0.05.

Results: The reliability of this questionnaire was estimated at α = 0.87. The average lost work day caused by occupational accidents was 36.67 days and the average cost imposed for each accident was 23.97 million Tomans. The total safety index in the studied environment was calculated at 3.59± 1.01. The results of linear multivariate regression analysis indicated that the cost imposed for each accident has a significant relationship with accident type and accident consequence, level of education, number of workers, training hours, work experience, salary, and total safety index (p <0.05).

Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the economic performance of a company can be affected by individual, occupational, and most importantly safety factors of the company. In addition, such factors are considered as strong predictors for economic safety performance.