Factors contributing to recurrent accidents involving industrial machinery in the manufacturing sector: evidence from government accident reports

Objectives. This study examined fatal machinery crushing accidents in South Korea’s manufacturing sector using official government investigation reports, identifying phase-specific vulnerability patterns and their policy implications. Methods. Analysis included 272 fatal accident reports (2016–2019) systematically coded through Reason’s Swiss cheese model framework and interaction effect quantification using Cramér’s V coefficients. Key variables comprise safeguard status, work phase, enterprise size, lock/tagout (LOTO) compliance and machinery type. Methods encompassed descriptive statistics, χ2 tests and Cramér’s V analysis, exposure-adjusted risk ratios and Pareto intervention simulation. Results. Among 132 legally mandated safeguard cases, 87.1% showed non-compliance, with 59.8% occurring during maintenance phases (safeguard–maintenance interaction: V = 0.35, p < 0.001). Small enterprises (<50 employees) accounted for 65% of fatalities despite representing only 40% of manufacturing employment (risk ratio = 2.8, 95% confidence interval [2.1–3.7]). Pareto analysis identified 18 priority machinery types responsible for 82% of fatalities. Conclusion. Maintenance-phase systemic failures predominate through safeguard–procedure misalignment. Targeted interventions – mandatory LOTO audits, small and medium-sized enterprise support programs, priority machinery decommissioning – offer substantial fatality prevention. Findings inform Korean industrial safety policy while contributing phase-specific evidence to global machinery accident prevention.