Effectiveness of occupational safety and health management systems in reducing industrial accidents and disasters: A systematic review

Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (OSHMSs) are standards, actions, and mechanisms that help minimize industrial accidents and disasters. The objective of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of OSHMS in reducing occupational accidents and disasters across various industrial sectors. To achieve this, a detailed literature search was conducted using Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, employing Boolean operators to refine search terms. The inclusion criteria for the study were articles published within the last 12 years that had specific findings on accident reduction after the implementation of OSHMS frameworks. Articles published older than 12 years and did not correspond with the inclusion criteria were excluded from the study. Eleven peer-reviewed articles were used for the study. The study’s findings revealed that the effective enforcement and application of OSHMS helped minimize industrial accidents and disasters, with improvements ranging from 10.3% to 90% across various industries. The adoption of OSHMS frameworks helped minimize accidents, such as falls, machinery-related injuries, fires, chemical spills, and explosions, across the industries examined . However, some studies have revealed a moderately strong and significant negative relationship between Occupational Health and Safety Management Frameworks (OHSMFs) and the occurrence of workplace accidents and occupational injuries, suggesting that the existing OHSMFs may be ineffective or lack adequate safety standards to control hazard exposures in the industry. However, the majority of the studies presented positive responses. Therefore, this review emphasizes the importance of ongoing safety training, effective regulatory enforcement, and employee engagement in optimizing OSHMS efficiency and minimizing industrial accidents and disasters.