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Costs and Benefits of Preventing Workplace Accidents : Going from a Mechanical to a Manual Handling System

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  • Paul Lanoie
  • Louis Trottier

Abstract

This paper provides a cost-benefit analysis of the passage from a mechanical to a manual handling system that took place at the beginning of the 1990s at a warehouse of the Société des Alcools du Québec in Montreal. In particular, this change was aimed at reducing workplace accidents among packers. After evaluating the costs of the program, we present a rigorous econometric analysis to assess how many accidents have been prevented by the change so as to compute the direct and indirects costs avoided as a result of such accident reduction. We show that the demechanization of the handling system has indeed been profitable for the firm. Les auteurs de cet article ont effectué l'analyse coûts-avantages du passage d'un système de manutention mécanisé à un système manuel mis en oeuvre en 1990 dans un entrepôt de la Société des Alcools du Québec situé à Montréal. Après avoir estimé les coûts du programme, ils ont conduit une analyse économétrique rigoureuse pour déterminer le nombre d'accidents évités grâce à ce changement. Ils ont pu ainsi calculer les coûts directs et indirects qui n'auront pas à être subis à cause de la réduction du nombre des accidents. Ils en concluent que le changement a été rentable pour l'entreprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Lanoie & Louis Trottier, 1995. "Costs and Benefits of Preventing Workplace Accidents : Going from a Mechanical to a Manual Handling System," CIRANO Working Papers 95s-45, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:95s-45
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    File URL: https://cirano.qc.ca/files/publications/95s-45.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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