Affiliations: [a] Occupational and Environmental Health Center, Health Deputy, Ministry of Health, Tehran, Iran
| [b] Research Center for Health Sciences and Technologies, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
| [c] Faculty of Health, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
| [d] Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| [e] Emergency Medicine Research Team, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| [f] Social Determinant of Health Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
| [g] Department of Occupational Health Engineering, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| [h] Department of Environmental, Parand Branch, Islamic Azad University, Parand, Iran
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Farin Fatemi, PhD., Research Center for Health Sciences and Technologies, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran. E-mail: f_fatemi@semums.ac.ir.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Chemical accidents have imposed casualties and high economic and social consequences to Iranian industries and society. OBJECTIVE:This study investigated the effect of risk factors involved in occurrences of the chemical accidents and predicted the time of occurrences in Iranian chemical factories. METHODS:A cross-sectional study was implemented in 574 chemical facilities with more than 25 employees from 2018 to 2020. Collecting data instruments were 2 checklists with 15 and 25 three-point Likert scale questions, respectively. Chi square and Monte Carlo tests assessed the relationships between independent risk factors and dependent hazardous chemical accidents. Cox semi-parametric and log-normal parametric models were used to predict the upcoming time of chemical accidents based on the impacts of risk factors understudy. Data analyses were performed using Stata and R software. RESULTS:The results showed that safety data sheets, labeling, fire extinguishing system, safe chemicals storage, separation, loading, transportation and training were statistically significant with occurrences of the chemical accidents (P-value < 0.05). Loading and transportation were mostly related to chemical incidents and reduced significantly the expected time of chemical events (P-value = 0.028). CONCLUSION:Establishing a comprehensive chemical accidents dataset and strict governmental supervision on chemical safety regulations are suggested to decrease the chemical accidents at regional and local levels in chemical plants.
Keywords: Chemical accidents, survival analysis, risk factors, safety
DOI: 10.3233/WOR-211333
Journal: Work, vol. 74, no. 3, pp. 1115-1124, 2023
