A Causal Model of Factors Affecting the Development of Occupational Safety and Health Using Interpretive-Structural Modeling

Industrial accidents and occupational diseases mostly lead to considerable human, environmental, and economic losses. Hence, the present study aims at determining the pattern of the influential factors in the development of occupational safety and health.

The statistical population of the study included all the small and medium-sized enterprises in Tabriz. Two questionnaires were used for data collection. All the load factors were greater than 0.5 and statistically significant, which shows the good validity of the questionnaire. In addition, Cronbach’s alpha for all the major components was greater than 0.7, which shows the good reliability of the questionnaire. In order to determine the pattern of the influential factors in the development of occupational safety and health, confirmatory factor analysis and Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) were used for data analysis.

Research findings at the confirmatory factor analysis for the major components indicates that the RMSEA is smaller than 0.05, the GFI, CFI, and NFI are greater than 0.9. As a result, the seven major components are confirmed as the components of the pattern of the development of occupational safety and health. Finding of the Interpretive Structural Modeling showed that the “organization and management” is the most influential component and the “employee safety quality” is the most impressible component in the pattern of safety and health development directly and indirectly affected by other components.

According to the determined pattern, managers can focus on the major influential components such as the organization and management, and managerial measures to improve the impressible components and increase the organization resilience against occupational disasters and diseases by increasing the employees’ safety.