Injury severity and influence factors in surface mines: A correspondence analysis

Abstract In this study, injury data from surface mines in Ghana was analysed using correspondence analysis. The overall objective of the study was to investigate the association between five injury levels, namely fatality, permanent disability, temporary disability, days away from work and restricted work injury, and four accident factors, namely job title, location, time and cause. The four accident factors exemplify the well-known accident classification scheme of who, where, when and why. 206 accidents resulting in a minimum of restricted work injury were analysed. Preliminary analysis showed that days away from work was the dominant injury, and most of the accidents occurred after 6 h of work. With respect to location, job title and cause; fixed workshop, mechanic/repairmen and moving components/parts respectively accounted for most of the injuries. Results of the correspondence analysis showed that locations, job titles and hazards related to actual mining operations precipitate high consequence accidents such as fatalities and disabling injuries than the other job titles, locations and hazards. From the correspondence analysis, it was observed that “involvement in actual mining operations”, “night shift”, and “after 6 h of work” are hidden causes of high consequence accidents, and priority areas for accident reduction. These results offer opportunities for developing injury prevention strategies and their practical implications have been discussed. Specifically, the study was able to identify some hidden causes of accident, which are important prerequisite for accident prevention. For instance, “6 h of work” was identified as a hidden cause of accident, suggesting that safety measures are required to protect workers who work more than 6 h in a day, and are involved in actual mining operation, since they have a higher risk of injury than other workers.