Apparent and root causes of occupational accidents occurred during maintenance interventions

This paper introduces the results of a structured analysis of occupational accidents occurred during maintenance interventions in Italy, in the last decades. The investigation includes 49 occupational accidents occurred in Italy between 2002 and 2016, involving maintenance workers. Results show that the leading apparent cause of accidents was the voluntary adoption of an improper procedure, e.g. the bypass of a risk control measure, followed by distraction and error of judgment. The lack of training appeared to be the leading root cause of the investigated events. However, the investigation of root causes was difficult because of the lack of information on human factors and other intermediate causes that lead to the occupational accident. The findings of this analysis suggest that a structured methodology for accident registration is required. Such methodology should collect data supporting the identification of the root causes of occupational accidents and workers’ reasonably foreseeable behaviors on which prevention strategies should focus.