Relationships among causal factors influencing mine accidents using structural equation modelling

Abstract

Accidents occur due to a series of interactions between deficiencies within the various levels of a sociotechnical system. Quantifying the relationship between upper and lower levels helps develop accident countermeasures focusing on significant organisational latent conditions. This study explores the relationship between the causal factors of accidents within Ghanaian mines using SEM. Data obtained from the analysis of incident reports using HFACS-GMI were quantified to enable its use in the SEM software, as SEM calculations cannot be done using a 0/1 description. The study also tests five hypotheses, including the basic assumption of the HFACS model. The case study results showed that organisational factors significantly influence workplace/individual conditions; upper causal categories do not only influence adjacent immediate lower causal categories, and partial correlations exist between causal categories with a particular level. Based on the SEM model from LISERL, an accident causation path diagram was developed. The diagram reveals that leadership flaws, the technological environment and adverse physiological/mental states were the mediating factors in accident causation within the mines. The operational process has a prominent position in the organisational factors tier and is an essential factor in the entire accident system. Therefore, accident countermeasures should be directed to addressing operational deficiencies.

Keywords:

• Mine accident
• causal factors
• HFACS
• structural equation modelling
• accident causation path

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the assistance of the seven mines for allowing the author to access their facility for the research. We would like to thank everyone who directly or indirectly assisted us in collecting data. Therefore, we extend our acknowledgements to UMaT for the funding for the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

Theophilus Joe-Asare is on UMaT staff development scholarship.