Estimation cost of occupational accidents by SACA method: A case study in one of the South Pars Gas Refinery

Introduction: Occupational accidents impose a lot of direct and indirect costs on the national economy of the country. Because, as a fact, resources are  limited  for  reducing  the  risks  and  costs  can  affect  the  optimal  investment  in  safety issues, the aim of this study was to calculate the economic costs of occupational accidents in one of the South Pars Gas Refinery, Assalouyeh, Boushehr Province. Material and Methods: The present research was a descriptive-analytic study, and the costs from 92 occupational accidents occurred in the South Pars Gas Refinery during the period of 2017 and 2018 is estimated. Estimation of these costs contributes to decision-making for cost control. The systematic accident cost analysis (SACA) method, which calculates their costs and information in the forms of each incident and calculates the total cost based on the type of incident after the analysis of the cost of the incident. Excel, SPSS version 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), Kolmogorov-Smironov and Chi-squared tests were used for data manipulations and statistical analysis. Results: The Most working days were lost in the Gas Refinery (12613 days). The evaluations of accident cost showed that 2/3 of the costs of occupational accidents are visible in the corporate accounting information systems reviewed while 1/3 is hidden from management view. As can be seen the costs due to the absence of the injured employee are the largest cost category with an average of 71%. The highest cost of occupational accidents for a company with 1500 employees was estimated to approximately 27,440,000,000 Rials. Conclusion: The costs of accidents on employers and ultimately the country's economy are noticeable.  It is really important to recognize the accidents’ causes, control the rate of them and provide sufficient and appropriate occupational health and safety services.