Relationship between Reactive and proactive Safety Indices: A Case Study in the Chemical Industries

Abstract

Background: Investigating the influence of various proactive factors on reactive indices in the chemical industries can result in providing preventive and control measures in these industries. This study was designed and conducted to measure the relationship between reactive and proactive safety indices in the chemical industry. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 in 12 chemical industries. The study data were associated with a period of 5 years (2013-2017). Study data has been analyzed based on factor analysis using analytical software IBM SPSS AMOS v. 22.0. χ2 / df, RMSEA, CFI, NFI, and NNFA (TLI) indices were used to evaluate the model's goodness fit in this study. Results: The mean reactive indices of recurrence coefficient and accident severity in this study was 14.15(18.32) and 182.112(10.50) days, respectively. The exploratory factor analysis results determined that 16 indicator variables were categorized into 4 groups of proactive indices, including safety training, risk management, control of unsafe situations, and unsafe acts. Analyzing the confirmatory factor additionally confirmed that there is a significant relationship between the two groups of reactive and proactive indices in this study(P <0.05), and the goodness of model fit was also recognized appropriate (RMSEA = 0.055). Conclusion: This study's findings approved that the proactive indices affect the incidence and severity of accidents as safety reactive indices in the chemical industries. Also, the risk management proactive index and insecurity conditions were more effective than other indices.