Accidents in the Chemical Industry: A Scoping Review Focused on Causal Factors

Although occupational safety in the chemical industry is an area of ongoing research worldwide, chemical incidents continue to occur, indicating the need to review the causes, assist in safety management, and identify problems in the quality of reporting.

A systematic search of studies published in English between January 1, 2000 and August 31, 2025 was conducted using the electronic databases Medline and Web of Science Core Collection. Due to their heterogeneity, studies were evaluated in a scoping review framework, presenting quantitative data on causes of industrial chemical incidents.

A total of 12 studies from the EU and 17 outside the EU were included. Both in the EU and outside, organizational factors were the most prominent cause of chemical accidents, and the most commonly mentioned specific causes were lack of clear work instructions such as lack of adequately written standard operating procedures (SOPs), deficiencies in risk analysis, deficiencies in planning and scheduling of procedures, especially during non-routine operations, insufficient safety training, and poor design and engineering of chemical processes. Regarding human factors, operator errors were noted in all geographical locations; however, studies from Asia more often pointed out the contribution of inadequate supervision and intentional violations. Lastly, technical factors were overall not a leading cause of chemical accidents, but there was a somewhat higher percentage of accidents attributed to this category in non-EU countries.

Together, these insights underscore the need for system-level preventive strategies, supported by harmonized reporting and prospective studies, to strengthen evidence-based prevention.