Analysis of the Parameters that Affect Electrocution Accidents in Small-scale Industrial Workshops Based on their Electrical Safety Performance

Abstract

Background and Objective: Electrocutions are not very common; however, their consequences are severe. The present study aimed to analyze the parameters that affect electrocution accidents and evaluate the electrical safety of small-scale industrial workshops. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 2019 on the electrical accidents that occurred in 232 small-scale industrial workshops during a 7-year period. The data collection tools included electrical accident report forms and a researcher-made checklist for the evaluation of the electrical safety of the selected workshops. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using Chi-square, Fisher, and regression tests. Results: According to the results, the rate of electrocution in 125 small-scale industrial workshops without safety (first group) measures was approximately 10 times higher than that of the 107 workshops that had safety measures (second group). Moreover, the disciplines in 79.5% and 75.0% of the workshops in the first and second groups were poor, respectively. Furthermore, it was found that 64.1% and 50.0% of the electrocutions in the first and second groups were caused by perceptual errors, respectively. Moreover, the rates of personal protective equipment (PPE) training in the first and second groups were 3.2% and 44.0%, respectively while the rates of PPE deployment were 5.6% and 55.1%, in the first and second groups, respectively. In addition, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of safety measures (P<0.05). The results of modeling the parameters that affected the electrocution revealed that electrical safety training had the highest correlation with other variables. Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that electrical safety was poor in small-scale industrial workshops. Therefore, it is recommended to use practical electrical safety training and implement safety systems, such as the grounding system and circuit breaker switches to help reduce electrocution accidents.

Keywords

• electrical safety systems
• electrocution
• small-scale industries
• training