Ole Carstensen Kent Jacob Nielsen Kurt Rasmussen The Prevention of Occupational Injuries in 2 industrial plants using an Incident Reporting Scheme Working on Safety 3rd international Conference

Background Accident or incident analysis is used in proactive accident prevention models based on different theories of accident causation – Ex. “Safety iceberg” assumption

Objectives: To introduce an in-depth analysis tool for accidents and near-misses in 2 industrial plants To investigate whether a higher degree of registration and in-depth analysis of minor accidents (MI) and near-misses (NS) will have a preventive effect on the total number of lost time injuries (LTI) in the plants during a 2-year period. To investigate promoting and inhibiting factors for using an in-depth analysis and registration system in the companies

Time Schedule 1/1-021/7-01 1/7-02 1/7-041/1-041/7-031/1-03 Post-intervention measurement InterventionPre-intervention measurment T0 T2

Intervention New registration system – Registration of Minor accidents and near-misses – Analyses of the accidents and incidents to discover problem areas and taking preventive measures.

Effect measurement: Analysis of accident data from 1 year before study start to 2 years after study start. Questionnaire at baseline and 2 years later Safety climate, Management’s commitment to safety Interviews ( with employees) at baseline and 2 years later Safety practices Accident registration Occupational accidents Safety attitudes

Material and method Number of employees Responsrate questionnaire T0 Responsrate questionnaire T2 Company A %78 % Company B % 57 % of the employees answered the questionnaire twice

Results: Injury rates Significant increase p<0,01 in plant A (T0 to T2)

Results: Injury rates Significant increase p<0,01 in plant A (T0 to T2)

Results: Injury rates Significant decrease p<0,01 in plant A (T0 to T2)

Results: Questionnaire data Safety Climate Only significant difference p<0,01 in plant B (T0 to T2) 0-68 (highest best)

Results: Questionnaire data Managements commitment to safety Only significant difference p<0,01 in plant B (T0 to T2) 1-5 (highest best)

Results: Questionnaire data Willingnes to report Incidents

Results: Interviews Plant A – More focus on safety issues – Increased knowledge on safety – Changes in attitudes – More management commitment to safety – No changes in employees’ understanding of proactive accident prevention and use of analysis of MI and NS. Plant B – Same focus on safety issues as before – Same knowledge on safety as before – No changes in attitudes – Same management commitment to safety – No changes in employees’ understanding of proactive accident prevention and use of analysis of MI and NS.

Conclusion: It is possible to pursue a preventive strategy based on registration and in-dept analysis of occupational accidents and near-misses A successful implementation of an incident reporting scheme (increase in the reporting of NM’s and MI’s, identifying accident patterns found in the NM and MI-data), was followed by a decline in the incidence of LTI’s at a Danish metal plant.

Conclusion: Key factors in successful implementation: Top management commitment. Willingness to report accidents. Effects Increased focus on safety Improved safety climate scores Increased workers’ perception of management involvement in safety