The costs of industrial accidents for the organization: Developing methods and tools for evaluation and cost–benefit analysis of investment in safety

This paper proposes methods for reliable evaluation of the costs involved in industrial accidents for an organization – especially in relation to loss of production. We use a management approach that is based on the “Theory of Constraints”. Industrial accident costs contain two major cost-categories: direct costs and indirect ones. While direct costs are easily recognizable indirect costs cannot always be easily recognized attributed to the accident. The research shows the importance of evaluating indirect costs and develops a model that calculates the real cost of an accident.