Absenteeism and accidents in a dangerous environment: Empirical analysis of underground coal mines.

Very few studies on absenteeism have examined its consequences. Most studies have focused on its causes. Our study examined the effects or consequences of absenteeism on accidents. Data were gathered from production crews in five underground coal mines. A unique data set was created that traced on a daily basis the absence event, the company's policy on replacement, and the occurrence of an accident. The concept of familiarity was introduced to explain the impact of absenteeism on accidents. The basic data showed that absenteeism increased the chances for accidents in certain categories of unfamiliarity. Implications for manpower policy and absentee research are discussed. This article examines empirically the relation between absenteeism and accidents. The basic question is What effect does absenteeism have on the number of accidents? A unique data set from underground coal mining crews is used to examine this question. Our analysis differs from most for at least three reasons. First, we focus on the consequences, rather than causes of absenteeism. A current review of the absenteeism literature would show that most of the literature (cf. Steers & Rhodes, 1984) is concerned with identifying predictors of absenteeism. There are very few studies on the effects of absenteeism on behavior (Goodman & Atkin, 1984). Second, of the existing studies of consequences of absenteeism, most focus on the financial costs of absenteeism (Goodman & Atkin, 1984). Our study examines a largely unresearched, but very important, consequence of absenteeism—safety or accidents. Third, our motivation is policy relevance: If there is a relation between absenteeism and accidents, then it may be possible to modify manning strategies to reduce accidents. Thus, this research may have theoretical significance as well as practical implications for reducing accidents.