Development of a relative risk model for roof and side fall fatal accidents in underground coal mines in India

A relative risk model for roof and side fall fatal accidents was developed using loglinear analysis of two-way contingency table. A few statistics such as potential fatalities (PF), relative risk of fatalities (RRF) and safety measure effectiveness (SME) were derived which can be used as key safety performance indicators of roof and side fall accidents in underground mines. The model was applied to large roof and side fall fatal accident data for a period of 6-years occurred in six companies involving 292 underground coal mines. The application reveals that effectiveness of safety measures across different locations in underground mines varies and focus is mainly concentrated in highly populated workplaces such as face. The model and the statistics developed in this study are generic and can be applied to any industrial setting.