Study on factors influencing university laboratory accidents using fsQCA method
[Objective]With increasing scientific research activities in university laboratories,the laboratory safety management system must be urgently optimized to address various laboratory accidents.Owing to the complexity of risk factors and difficulty in detecting safety hazards in university laboratories,analyzing factors influencing laboratory accidents plays a crucial role in preventing accidents.Based on the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis(fsQCA)method,this study examines the effects of different condition configurations on laboratory accidents to explore the complex causal relationship between laboratory accidents and various factors.[Methods]First,based on the"human-machine-environment-management,"a safety management system is constructed to analyze the factors influencing university laboratory accidents,and six causal conditions are extracted from the management system to investigate the condition configuration of the accident.Second,data regarding 30 typical accidents in Chinese universities are collected.According to the collected accident data,fuzzy assignment is attributed to the condition and result variables of each accident.Finally,the collected laboratory case data are analyzed using the fsQCA3.0 software,and the analysis results are processed according to the fsQCA handling method.Moreover,six configuration types affecting the severity of laboratory accident consequences are obtained.[Results]The results of the study show the following:management condition deficiencies or instrument and equipment failures are the core conditions affecting the occurrence of accidents,and unsafe people's behavior and accident handling often appear as the marginal conditions of accidents.The following rules were established based on the configuration analysis results:the lack of management conditions may not be the sole factor leading to accidents,but as a core condition,it will considerably impact the consequences of accidents;equipment accidents have complex path combinations;and human factors are typically present as marginal conditions in configuration,combined with other factors to form the causative path of laboratory accidents.Lastly,suggestions on laboratory safety management are proposed according to the rules displayed by configuration types.[Conclusions]Through the configuration analysis of accidents in university laboratories using the fsQCA method,six configuration types of accidents are obtained,three rules are summarized,and some suggestions for laboratory safety management are provided in this paper.This paper tries to deduce the causal relationship of multiple and concurrent laboratory accidents in Chinese universities from the configuration perspective.In addition,the proposed method introduces a new causal explanation mechanism for the occurrence of laboratory accidents and a new perspective for laboratory safety management.
university laboratoryfuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis(fsQCA)configuration pathsafety management
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
