A retrospective study about the trend analysis of Industrial accidents in Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Occupational accidents in developing countries like Pakistan are obvious due to poor occupational health safety infrastructure.

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to analyze the industrial accidents in factories of Pakistan during 1993-2009.

Methods and Material: An index value calculation method used to investigate the trends of occupational accidents. Accident rate (10³), fatal accident rate (10⁵), and non-fatal accident rate (10³) were also calculated. Pakistan Statistical Year Books published by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) used as data source.

Results: Data of total 10330 industrial accidents analyzed and decreasing accident rate found with average 3.1 accident per 10³ factory workers. Fatal accident increased with an average of 23 fatal accidents per 10⁵ factories workers. Regarding the severity of industrial accidents, minor accidents found at 74% followed by serious (18%) and fatal accidents (8%). Decreased trends of index values and accident rates can associate with the increased human development index of Pakistan, but increased fatal accidents in factories and under-reporting are major areas of concern for safety stakeholders.

Conclusions: Despite industrial accidents decreased in factories but more in depth studies with more recent data about the root causes of accidents can be useful to draw a true picture of occupational accidents in Pakistan. Improved social security system in Pakistan can be helpful to the exact recording of occupational accidents data.