Exploring the economic occupational health, safety, and fatal accidents in high-risk industries

Despite advancements in occupational health and safety (OHS) management, high-risk industries in China continue to report a significant number of fatal accidents, underscoring systemic challenges in protecting the well-being of workers while supporting economic development. This study analyzed 22 years of historical data on OHS incidents, labor dynamics, and economic growth in China's high-risk industries via multiple regression and network analysis methods. The findings reveal hierarchical influence relationships, with coal mine fatalities emerging as critical upstream factors and transportation fatalities and national labor force dynamics emerging as key downstream factors. Notably, the study reveals a negative correlation between GDP and fatal workplace incidents: for every 0.461 trillion CNY increase in GDP, production safety accident deaths decrease by one. Conversely, each safety accident resulted in 1.052 coal mine fatalities and 0.153 cases of occupational disease. These results offer a novel quantitative perspective on the interplay between economic growth and workplace safety. The study's models provide practical guidance for enhancing the effectiveness of OHS prevention and control efforts, contributing to sustainable economic and public health outcomes.