Aantal ernstige en fatale ongevallen op de werkvloer neemt af in Europa (en)
In the EU, serious accidents at work resulting in more than 3 days of absence and fatal accidents at work1 have decreased steadily. Between 1994 and 2001, serious accidents decreased by 15% in the EU, and fatal accidents by 31%. In 2001, in the EU, there were about 4.7 million serious accidents at work. When accidents with no absence from work or where the absence is up to 3 days are taken into account, the estimated total number of accidents at work was about 7.6 million, or one accident at work every 5 seconds.
Male workers are more likely to have accidents at work than female workers; around three times more likely to have a serious accident and eleven times to have a fatal accident. The difference is partly due to men working more in the sectors with a high risk of accidents and doing more full-time work, i.e. being exposed to the risk of accidents for a longer time each day, and also by differences in the tasks performed by men and women even within one sector of economic activities. For example, in construction companies, men tend to work more on building sites and women more in offices.
For the first time, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, publishes today, at the occasion of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work2, a report3 on "Work and health" in the EU using all the available statistical data in this field for the period 1994-2002. Eurostat's data are complemented with data from other sources, especially from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The publication provides a general picture of working life and includes specific chapters on safety at work, occupational and work-related diseases, as well as violence, intimidation and discrimination at workplace. Additional information on the policy context and methodology is also available.
Accidents at work generally decreasing, but not in all Member States
Between 1998 and 2001, serious accidents decreased by 6% in the EU and fatal accidents by 21%. The largest decreases in the number of accidents at work were observed in Denmark (-18%), Belgium and Austria (-17% each) for serious accidents, and in Denmark (-45%), Italy (-38%) and Germany (-35%) for fatal accidents. The numbers of fatal accidents are, however, quite small for many countries. Therefore rather small changes in absolute numbers may cause relatively large annual variations in terms of percentage change.
Despite this general downwards trend in most of the Member States, the incidence rate of serious accidents increased in Sweden (+13%, between 1998 and 2001), the United Kingdom (+10%), Spain (+6%) and Ireland (+5%). The rate of fatal accidents also increased in Belgium (+24%), Sweden (+5%) and Portugal (+4%, between 1998 and 2000).
Amongst the Acceding Countries, Poland recorded the highest fall in the incidence rate of serious accidents (-22% between 1998 and 2001), followed by Slovakia (-16%) and Lithuania (-15%). The only increases were registered in Estonia (+32%), Latvia (+16%) and Cyprus (+12%). Fatal accidents decreased most in Hungary and Slovakia (-29% each) and Estonia (-22%) while they increased in Latvia (+40%), Lithuania and Slovenia (+5% each).
Index of the number of accidents at work per thousand persons in employment in 2001, 1998=100
|
' | Serious accidents | Fatal accidents | ' | Serious accidents | Fatal accidents |
| EU15 | 94p | 79p | Czech Republic | 91 | 96 |
| Belgium | 83 | 124 | Estonia | 132 | 78 |
| Denmark | 82 | 55 | Cyprus | 112 | 62i |
| Germany | 88 | 65 | Latvia | 116 | 140 |
| Greece | 86 | 78 | Lithuania | 85 | 105 |
| Spain | 106 | 81 | Hungary | 86 | 71 |
| France | 98 | 79 | Malta | 99 | 48i |
| Ireland | 105 | 43b | Poland | 78 | 92 |
| Italy | 92 | 62 | Slovenia | 94 | 105 |
| Luxembourg | 97 | 37i | Slovakia | 84 | 71 |
| Netherlands | 92 | 79 | EU15+ACC10 | 94p | 80p |
| Austria | 83 | 94 | Norway | 82 | 74 |
| Portugal* | 88 | 104 | Bulgaria | 87 | 100 |
| Finland | 87b | 98b | Romania | 113 | 97 |
| Sweden | 113 | 105 | Turkey | 90 | 92 |
| United Kingdom | 110 | 92 | United States | 90 | 93w |
| ' | ' | ' | Japan | 91 | 98 |
* 2000
p Provisional
b Due to a break in series, this data should be considered with caution
i Low significance due to small number of fatal accidents at work
w Excludes the victims of the 11/09 terrorist attacks
6.4% of female workers and 4.7% of male workers subjected to physical violence in the EU in 2000
In the EU, 6.4% of female workers and 4.7% of male workers reported having been subjected to physical violence in the workplace in 2000, such violence being more common from other people, i.e. clients, pupils, etc (4.5% and 3.5% respectively) than from people colleagues (1.9% and 1.2% respectively). Health and social care workers were the most affected: 13% reported having been subjected to violence during 2000. The health and social work sector also recorded the highest rate of intimidation, 15.7%. In total, 10.2% of female workers and 7.3% of male workers reported having been subjected to intimidation at work during 2000 in the EU. In addition, 3.5% of female workers declared having experienced unwanted sexual attention.
In 2000, 3.1% of women working reported having been subjected to gender discrimination compared to 0.8% of men. With regard to age discrimination at work, shares were almost equal for both women (3.0%) and men (2.8%).
Violence, intimidation and discrimination in the workplace in the EU15 in 2000
|
As % of workers | Female | Male |
| Having been subjected to physical violence by people from the workplace | 1.9 | 1.2 |
| Having been subjected to physical violence by other people | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Having been subjected to intimidation | 10.2 | 7.3 |
| Having been subjected to gender discrimination | 3.1 | 0.8 |
| Having been subjected to unwanted sexual attention | 3.5 | 0.9 |
| Having been subjected to age discrimination | 3.0 | 2.8 |
Accidents at work are measured by the standardised incidence rate, that is the number of accidents at work occurring during the year per 100 000 persons in employment, corrected for the influence of the different economic structures of Member States. Only the groups of economic activity or professional status covered by the national accident data collection system are included in the denominator, i.e. agriculture, hunting and forestry - manufacturing - electricity, gas and water supply - construction - wholesale and retail trade and repairs - hotels and restaurants - transport and communication - financial intermediation - real estate, renting and business activities. The standardised incidence rate for fatalities excludes road traffic during work. However, the non-fatal rate includes road traffic accidents during work. Commuting accidents (from home to work or vice versa) are excluded for both fatal and non-fatal accidents.
For further information, consult the site of the International Labour Organisation: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/worldday/index.htm
Eurostat, Population and Social Conditions, "Work and health in the EU - A statistical portrait", 129 pp. ISBN 92-894-7006-2, 30 EUR (exc. VAT). The publication is available free of charge in PDF format on the Eurostat website.
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Issued by: Eurostat Press Office Philippe BAUTIER BECH Building L-2920 LUXEMBOURG Tel: +352-4301-33 444 Fax: +352-4301-35 349 eurostat-pressoffice@cec.eu.int Eurostat news releases on the Internet: | For further information on data:
Didier DUPRÉ Tel: +352-4301-35 034 Fax: +352-4301-35 399 Antti KARJALAINEN Tel: +352-4301-32 693 Fax: +352-4301-35 399 Eurostat Data Sho Network: List of addresses http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/ Data Shop Services / List of Data Shops |