Open AccessMonitoring of Accidents and Risk Events in Industrial Plants
Author(s) -
Swat Krzysztof
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of occupational health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 1348-9585
DOI - 10.1539/joh.39.100
Subject(s) - housekeeping , environmental health , occupational safety and health , occupational hygiene , operations management , risk analysis (engineering) , medicine , medical emergency , engineering , toxicology , biology , biochemistry , pathology , gene
Monitoring of Accidents and Risk Events in Industrial Plants: Krzysztof S wat . Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine —The aim of our 3‐year study begun in 1994 is to develop an organizationally useful method of recording risk events in plant to help in finding causes of accidents and preventing them. In the first stage, four plants in different industrial branches were selected for the study: foundry, machinery, meat processing and furniture. The four plants employed a total of 2,964 workers. Eighty‐three accidents which happened in 1993 were analyzed from the view point of frequency, severity and their direct and indirect causes. Plants had different frequency rates for different types of accidents. At least 45.8% of the accidents studied involved violation of the fundamental principles of housekeeping. An additional study on accidents and minor injuries carried out in 1994 in the meat processing plant revealed that 95% of all incidents are not reported. The conclusions of the study are as follows: 1. Accidents should be recorded according to the circumstances in which they occur and especially to their types whereby information is provided on the type of relevant safety management problem; 2. One should note minor injuries in plant, especially those requiring first aid. There is a suprising repeatability of these events, their sources and effects; 3. Poor housekeeping constitutes a frequent source of accidents and housekeeping control should be incorporated into the safety monitoring system.