Allometric scaling and accidents at work. Issue 2 (2nd April 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cempel, Czesław; Tabaszewski, Maciej; Ordysiński, Szymon
• Is Part Of: International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics. Volume 22:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 173
• Page End: 178
• Publication Date: 2016-04-02
• Subjects: accidents at work -- allometric scaling -- statistical data -- size of an enterprise; Human engineering -- Periodicals; Industrial safety -- Periodicals; Human Engineering -- Periodicals; Occupational Health -- Periodicals; Ergonomie -- Périodiques; Sécurité du travail -- Périodiques; Human engineering; Industrial safety; Periodicals; 620.8
• DOI: 10.1080/10803548.2015.1131071
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1080-3548

Abstract

Abstract : Allometry is the knowledge concerning relations between the features of some beings, like animals, or cities. For example, the daily energy rate is proportional to a mass of mammals rise of 3/4. This way of thinking has spread quickly from biology to many areas of research concerned with sociotechnical systems. It was revealed that the number of innovations, patents or heavy crimes rises as social interaction increases in a bigger city, while other urban indexes such as suicides decrease with social interaction. Enterprise is also a sociotechnical system, where social interaction and accidents at work take place. Therefore, do these interactions increase the number of accidents at work or, on the contrary, are they reduction-driving components? This article tries to catch such links and assess the allometric exponent between the number of accidents at work and the number of employees in an enterprise.