Abstract
This study examines the efficiency of occupational safety and health costs and their impact on work disability dynamics. Despite increasing investments in occupational safety, the effectiveness of cost allocation remains insufficiently evaluated, particularly from an accounting and analytical perspective. The study is based on statistical data from medical and social expertise in Kazakhstan for 2020–2025 and financial data from six enterprises in the mining, manufacturing, construction, and transport sectors for 2020–2024. It is assumed that different categories of occupational safety and health costs have different effects on work disability outcomes. A quantitative approach was applied using correlation and linear regression analyses to assess the relationship between cost structure and changes in work disability indicators. The results show a predominantly negative relationship between occupational safety and health costs and work disability levels. The strongest correlations were identified for infrastructure investments (up to −0.57), workplace certification (−0.46), and personal protective equipment-related costs (up to −0.47). Regression results indicate that targeted costs show stronger associations (R² = 0.48) than general costs (R² = 0.21), which show weak and statistically inconsistent relationships. The findings indicate that the efficiency of occupational safety and health costs depends not only on their total volume but also on their structure and allocation. The study contributes to accounting and auditing by providing an empirical approach for evaluating cost efficiency and supporting evidence-based resource allocation decisions.