Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
An accident at work is defined as 'a discrete occurrence in the course of work which leads to physical or mental harm'. If the accident does not lead to the death of the victim it is called a 'non-fatal' (or 'serious') accident. The data include only fatal and non-fatal accidents involving more than 3 calendar days of absence from work.
A fatal accident at work is defined as an accident, which leads to the death of a victim within one year of the accident.
The variables collected on accidents at work include:
Economic activity of the employer and size of the enterprise
Employment status, occupation, age, sex and nationality of victim
Geographical location, date and time of the accident
Type of injury, body part injured and the severity of the accident (number of full calendar days during which the victim is unfit for work excluding the day of the accident, permanent incapacity or death within one year of the accident)
Variables on causes and circumstances of the accident: workstation, working environment, working process, specific physical activity, material agent of the specific physical activity, deviation and material agent of deviation, contact - mode of injury and material agent of contact - mode of injury (mandatory 3 out of 9).
The national ESAW sources are the declarations of accidents at work, either to the accident insurance of the national social security system, a private insurance for accidents at work or to other relevant national authorities (labour inspection, health and safety authority, etc.). As an exception, when data from administrative sources are not available, survey data might be used to fill-in the data gaps.
Eurostat website has a structure that includes four folders with accidents at work data:
1. Accidents at work (ESAW, 2008 onwards) contains the most recent data. This folder has other three sections: 'Main Indicators', 'Details by economic sector (NACE Rev2, 2008 onwards) and 'Causes and circumstances of accidents at work'.
Depending on the table, data are broken down by: economic activity (NACE 'main sectors' (1 digit code) or more detailed NACE divisions (2 digit codes)); the occupation of the victim (ISCO-08 code); country; severity of the accident, sex, age, employment status, size of the enterprise, body part injured and type of injury. The unit of measure depends also on the table. The following units of measure are available: numbers, percentages, incidence rates and standardised incidence rates of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work.
2. Accidents at work (ESAW) – until 2007 contains back data covering the reference period 1993-2007, these data refer to the version 1.1 of the NACE classification (NACE Rev.1.1.).
3. Accidents at work and other work-related health problems (source LFS) – present the results of the LFS ad-hoc modules dedicated for health and safety, that are comparable, for the reference years when they have been conducted namely 2007, 2013 and 2020. They are presented in the form of tables that refer to accidents at work; work-related health problems and exposure to risk factors for physical and mental well-being.
4. Work related health problems and accidental injuries – LFS 1999 presents data collected with the LFS ad-hoc module dedicated to health and safety at work 1999. These are historical data, the comparability of the results with the waves 2007, 2013 and 2020 is limited, for this reason the results are presented separately.
3.2. Classification system
The following classifications are used in ESAW:
NACE Rev. 2: 2nd revision of the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community managed by Eurostat. For ESAW data NACE Rev. 2 is used from reference year 2008 onwards;Most recent version provided
ISCO-08: International Standard Classification of Occupations managed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Most recent version provided
NUTS: Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics. Latest NUTS version in force, depending on the reference year of the data collection;Most recent version provided
ICSE-93: International Classification by Status in Employment (revision of 1993). Most recent version provided
3.3.2. Additional comments on coverage of Economic sectors (NACE Rev.2)
The sector maritime transport is almost completely insured by INAIL; data from ISPEMA (insurance institute for the maritime sector) is currently missing but data integration is in progress).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
3.4.1. Coverage of ESAW variables – annual update expected
Please check the Annex 1, table 3.4.1.
3.4.2. Coverage of ESAW variables - day lost- annual update expected
Please check the Annex 1, table 3.4.2.
3.4.3. Coverage of ESAW variables- weight - annual update expected
Please check the Annex 1, table 3.4.3.
3.4.4. Additional comments on coverage of ESAW variables
Inail's aim is to improve the coding of ESAW/3 variables.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical unit is the accident at work.
Data are collected for each accident.
If a person is a victim of more than one accident during the reference year, several cases are reported (one for each accident).
If there are several victims in the same event of accident, also several cases are reported (one for each victim).
3.6. Statistical population
Accidents at work: information corresponds to the EU metadata. Statistical population: both employees and self-employed workers, family workers, etc. are covered. Inail does not provide the national reference population because for industrial and service workers we do not know the exact number as they are estimated; they are units of work-year calculated on the basis of the wage bill that the employer declares to pay with reference to the work carried out. Then the information on the requested variables are not all available at the moment (for example sex, age). The information on insured workers in agriculture and the State (ministries, regions, etc.) is the responsibility of other national institutes.
3.6.1. Coverage of Employment status - annual update expected
Please check the Annex 1, table 3.6.1.
3.6.2. Additional comments on coverage of professional status
Standardized indices should only consider injuries to employed workers if the transmitted data do not include self-employed workers.
3.6.3. Coverage of Accidents outside premises - annual update expected
3.6.5. Additional comments on coverage of accidents outside premises
No comments.
3.7. Reference area
Data are available for all EU-Member States and EFTA countries.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data are available since reference year 1994 for all EU-15 Member States.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The following measurement units are used in ESAW data:
Numbers of accidents
Percentages of accidents (in relation to different totals and breakdowns)
Incidence rates of accidents: number of accidents per 100,000 workers
Standardised incidence rates: number of accidents per 100,000 workers adjusted for the relative sizes of economic sectors at EU level (see section 18.6 Adjustment for more details).
The calendar year during which the accidents were reported to have taken place (reference year).
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The implementing Regulation under which Member States report ESAW data to Eurostat is Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work.
The afore mentioned Regulation 349/2011 implements the framework Regulation EC N° 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work.
Commission Decision 2011/231 of 11 April 2011 granted derogations to certain Member States with respect to the transmission of statistics pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work.
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
Commission Regulation (EU) No 557/2013 of 17 June 2013 implementing Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European Statistics as regards access to confidential data for scientific purposes and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 831/2002 Text with EEA relevance, 'establishes the conditions under which access to confidential data transmitted to the Commission (Eurostat) may be granted for enabling statistical analyses for scientific purposes, and the rules of cooperation between the Commission (Eurostat) and national statistical authorities in order to facilitate such access' (article 1).
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Microdata of Member States are sent via secure e-Damis application. The microdata as received by Eurostat from the National Statistical Institutes or other statistical authorities do not contain any administrative information such as names or addresses that would allow direct identification. Access to this microdata is nevertheless strictly controlled and limited to specified Eurostat staff.
Currently, there are no restrictions applied when publishing aggregated data.
8.1. Release calendar
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not available.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
Annual.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
See Eurostat website (Eurostat database) Eurostat is gradually releasing its metadata with a new design and layout. During this transition time, there will be a mix between metadata in the old and new look.
European Statistics: The statistics reported in this information section were collected from Eurostat publications (the Central Statistical Office of the European Union). The data include all accident cases that resulted in an absence from work of more than three calendar days.
High-quality information in official statistics has long been among the objectives regularly pursued by INAIL.
Inail quality policy is coherent with the European framework developed by Eurostat, taking up its main principles and definitions.
Inail quality policy is aimed at a systematic improvement of statistical outputs and processes through the development of appropriate methodologies and tools as well as an appropriate scientific and technical support provided to the personnel directly involved in the production and dissemination of statistical information.
.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Italy, having an insurance system as well as specific and comprehensive statistical archives transmits comprehensive data on accidents at work to Eurostat.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Some tables on ESAW statistics were published on the website of our institute regarding absolute numbers of accidents and standardized incidence rates. Especially the standardized incidence rates are very important for a comparison with other Member States.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
In the interests of improving the state - citizen relationship, the P.A., at community level, must provide services that are more responsive to citizens' needs. In this regard, the Customer Satisfaction (CS) is a useful investigative tool in order to measure the degree of user satisfaction, their expectations, identify critical areas and propose corrective actions to improve services. In this context, the customer expressed through interviews their opinion on the quality of services provided by the institute, thus becoming an active protagonist of the entire evaluation process. However, there is currently no dedicated user satisfaction survey on ESAW statistics.
12.3. Completeness
All variables are covered by ESAW (including all phase III variables): Variable (NACE 84.24 and 84.25): the coverage is only for administrative employees. The sector maritime transport is almost completely insured by INAIL; data from ISPEMA (insurance institute for the maritime sector) is currently missing but data integration is in progress)
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
12.3.1.1. Global reporting level of Economic sectors (NACE Rev.2) - annual update expected
Global reporting level of Economic sectors (NACE Rev.2):98,6%
12.3.1.2. Additional comments on global reporting level
12.3.1.4. Additional comments on reporting levels by Economic sector (NACE Rev.2)
Accidents at work occurred in police and firebrigade as statutory are not included in the database.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Italy, having an insurance system as well as specific and comprehensive statistical archives transmits comprehensive data on accidents at work to Eurostat.
There is no under-reporting in the data transmitted to Eurostat.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Inail does not use sampling.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not available.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
With reference to the year N, the data of the year N-2 are usually extracted in October/December of the year N-1.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
Approximately 12 months after the end of the reference year (experience of previous years).
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
With reference to the year N, the data of the year N-2 are usually extracted in October/December of the year N-1.
14.2. Punctuality
Italy transmits data until June 30 of year N+2.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
See above.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Standardized incidence rates are the only indicators that allow for data comparability between countries removing differences for different sizes of economic sectors. Standardised incidence rates should be further improved as there are still other problems of data comparability. For example, some countries have low standardised incidence rates. In Italy more than 40% of fatal accidents occur in connection with means of transport.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
There weren't many Covid-19 incidents in 2023 in Italy.The comparability with other years could be affected.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Comparability with the years prior to 2020 is conditioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Covid-19 cases may lack information for some esaw variables, for example the type of injury and part of body injured.
There is currently no cost/burden analysis available for ESAW data at EU level.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The historical data for reference years 2019, 2020 were sent with the 2021 version of the NUTS classification.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not available.
18.1. Source data
The ESAW data transmitted to Eurostat are from Inail (National Institute against Accidents at Work). The original national data sources are employers' declarations of accidents at work for which the institute has provided compensation. Fatal cases refer to accidents with or without survivors.
For the reference population, the source of the Labor Force Survey is Istat (National Institute of Statistics).
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
ESAW data are extracted from Inail administrative databases according to ESAW concepts, definitions, variables and classifications.
18.4. Data validation
Various automatic and manual checks are performed on the accident data transmitted to Inail
Validation activities at IT level include:
Completeness;
Comparing data with preceding year data for plausibilty in changes and outliers;
Correctness of key-use;
Consistency of totals.
18.5. Data compilation
INAIL does not use weights to calculate the number of accidents.
The accident report must be submitted by the employer to INAIL in the event of an accident at work involving a worker, employee, or similar, if the injury is expected to result in an incapacity of more than three days, excluding the day of the incident.
For such cases, INAIL provides a benefit.
INAIL also considers commuting accidents as work-related; however, these are excluded from the data transmitted to Eurostat.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.6. Adjustment
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
The data available from Inail is very rich and suitable to analyze accidents at work, both in terms of variables investigated and number of recorded observations.
However, it is considered that although it is high quality information, there is still scope for improvement, especially regarding the variables that describe the mode of occurrence of the accident and that are fundamental to direct preventive measures that can reduce the severity and frequency of accidents at work. The variables in question are mainly the phase 3 variables on causes and circumstances. Phase III variables are crucial to improve the quality of the data and have become one of the priority objectives of the institute. For this reason, a project was started in 2010 involving several Inail experts with the aim to invest in technological innovation and to improve the service to employers and workers. One aim was to optimize the encoding process of the accidents reports according to ESAW phase 3 variables, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. In that respect an experiment was carried out using a semantic engine (IRIDE - ESAW DECODER) to transform unstructured information (free text) in structured information and provide a list of coding suggestions to the encoder. The goal is both to enhance the effectiveness of the ESAW system through the suggestion of assisted coding in automatic mode and to make it available to multidimensional analysis in support of decision-making through the semantic analysis of complaints.
An accident at work is defined as 'a discrete occurrence in the course of work which leads to physical or mental harm'. If the accident does not lead to the death of the victim it is called a 'non-fatal' (or 'serious') accident. The data include only fatal and non-fatal accidents involving more than 3 calendar days of absence from work.
A fatal accident at work is defined as an accident, which leads to the death of a victim within one year of the accident.
The variables collected on accidents at work include:
Economic activity of the employer and size of the enterprise
Employment status, occupation, age, sex and nationality of victim
Geographical location, date and time of the accident
Type of injury, body part injured and the severity of the accident (number of full calendar days during which the victim is unfit for work excluding the day of the accident, permanent incapacity or death within one year of the accident)
Variables on causes and circumstances of the accident: workstation, working environment, working process, specific physical activity, material agent of the specific physical activity, deviation and material agent of deviation, contact - mode of injury and material agent of contact - mode of injury (mandatory 3 out of 9).
The national ESAW sources are the declarations of accidents at work, either to the accident insurance of the national social security system, a private insurance for accidents at work or to other relevant national authorities (labour inspection, health and safety authority, etc.). As an exception, when data from administrative sources are not available, survey data might be used to fill-in the data gaps.
Eurostat website has a structure that includes four folders with accidents at work data:
1. Accidents at work (ESAW, 2008 onwards) contains the most recent data. This folder has other three sections: 'Main Indicators', 'Details by economic sector (NACE Rev2, 2008 onwards) and 'Causes and circumstances of accidents at work'.
Depending on the table, data are broken down by: economic activity (NACE 'main sectors' (1 digit code) or more detailed NACE divisions (2 digit codes)); the occupation of the victim (ISCO-08 code); country; severity of the accident, sex, age, employment status, size of the enterprise, body part injured and type of injury. The unit of measure depends also on the table. The following units of measure are available: numbers, percentages, incidence rates and standardised incidence rates of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work.
2. Accidents at work (ESAW) – until 2007 contains back data covering the reference period 1993-2007, these data refer to the version 1.1 of the NACE classification (NACE Rev.1.1.).
3. Accidents at work and other work-related health problems (source LFS) – present the results of the LFS ad-hoc modules dedicated for health and safety, that are comparable, for the reference years when they have been conducted namely 2007, 2013 and 2020. They are presented in the form of tables that refer to accidents at work; work-related health problems and exposure to risk factors for physical and mental well-being.
4. Work related health problems and accidental injuries – LFS 1999 presents data collected with the LFS ad-hoc module dedicated to health and safety at work 1999. These are historical data, the comparability of the results with the waves 2007, 2013 and 2020 is limited, for this reason the results are presented separately.
11 June 2025
Information corresponds to the EU metadata.
The statistical unit is the accident at work.
Data are collected for each accident.
If a person is a victim of more than one accident during the reference year, several cases are reported (one for each accident).
If there are several victims in the same event of accident, also several cases are reported (one for each victim).
Accidents at work: information corresponds to the EU metadata. Statistical population: both employees and self-employed workers, family workers, etc. are covered. Inail does not provide the national reference population because for industrial and service workers we do not know the exact number as they are estimated; they are units of work-year calculated on the basis of the wage bill that the employer declares to pay with reference to the work carried out. Then the information on the requested variables are not all available at the moment (for example sex, age). The information on insured workers in agriculture and the State (ministries, regions, etc.) is the responsibility of other national institutes.
Data are available for all EU-Member States and EFTA countries.
The calendar year during which the accidents were reported to have taken place (reference year).
Italy, having an insurance system as well as specific and comprehensive statistical archives transmits comprehensive data on accidents at work to Eurostat.
There is no under-reporting in the data transmitted to Eurostat.
The following measurement units are used in ESAW data:
Numbers of accidents
Percentages of accidents (in relation to different totals and breakdowns)
Incidence rates of accidents: number of accidents per 100,000 workers
Standardised incidence rates: number of accidents per 100,000 workers adjusted for the relative sizes of economic sectors at EU level (see section 18.6 Adjustment for more details).
INAIL does not use weights to calculate the number of accidents.
The accident report must be submitted by the employer to INAIL in the event of an accident at work involving a worker, employee, or similar, if the injury is expected to result in an incapacity of more than three days, excluding the day of the incident.
For such cases, INAIL provides a benefit.
INAIL also considers commuting accidents as work-related; however, these are excluded from the data transmitted to Eurostat.
The ESAW data transmitted to Eurostat are from Inail (National Institute against Accidents at Work). The original national data sources are employers' declarations of accidents at work for which the institute has provided compensation. Fatal cases refer to accidents with or without survivors.
For the reference population, the source of the Labor Force Survey is Istat (National Institute of Statistics).
Annual.
With reference to the year N, the data of the year N-2 are usually extracted in October/December of the year N-1.
Standardized incidence rates are the only indicators that allow for data comparability between countries removing differences for different sizes of economic sectors. Standardised incidence rates should be further improved as there are still other problems of data comparability. For example, some countries have low standardised incidence rates. In Italy more than 40% of fatal accidents occur in connection with means of transport.
There weren't many Covid-19 incidents in 2023 in Italy.The comparability with other years could be affected.
