Sammelstelle für die Statistik der Unfallversicherungen (SSUV)

Suva Versicherungstechnik Statistik

c/o Suva Versicherungstechnik Statistik
Fluhmattstrasse 2
CH - 6000 Luzern

Harmonised data on accidents at work are collected in the framework of the administrative data collection 'European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW)', on the basis of a methodology developed first in 1990.

An accident at work is defined as 'a discrete occurrence in the course of work which leads to physical or mental harm'. The data include only fatal and non-fatal accidents involving more than 3 calendar days of absence from work. If the accident does not lead to the death of the victim it is called a 'non-fatal' (or 'serious') accident.

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.

The following classifications are used in ESAW:

• NACE Rev. 2: 2^nd 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;
• ISCO-08: International Standard Classification of Occupations managed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) (revision of 2008). ISCO-08 should be used from reference year 2011 onwards. ISCO-88 was used until 2010;
• NUTS: Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics. Latest NUTS version in force, depending on the reference year of the data collection;
• ICSE-93: International Classification by Status in Employment (revision of 1993).

As defined on EU level, All economic sectors are covered with the following exceptions:

• Armed forces of Switzerland are not included.
• Sector A (Agriculture) has only few emloyees due to economic structure of this sector (mostly independent and family workers).

All employees are covered for  (Annual update expected)

Additional comments on coverage of economic sectors

Codes:

y Sector fully covered
n Sector not covered at all
p Secor partially covered
n.a. Not applicable, i.e. sector does not exist in country

European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) are based on case-by-case data for accidents at work resulting in more than 3 days' absence from work or death of the victim.

An accident at work is a discrete occurrence in the course of work which leads to physical or mental harm'.

• This includes all accidents in the course of work, whether they happen inside or outside the premises of the employer, on the premises of another employer, in public places or during transport (including road traffic accidents or accidents in any other mean of transportation) and at home (such as during teleworking). It also includes cases of acute poisoning and willful acts of other persons;
• It excludes:
  • Commuting accidents: accidents that occur during the normal journey to or from home and place of work;
  • Deliberate self-inflicted injuries;
  • Accidents from strictly natural causes, or occurrences caused solely by a medical condition (such as heart attack or stroke) that occurred during work, 
  • Accidents. which were not (at least partially) caused by the occupational activity of the victim; purely private or leisure time accidents
  • Accidents to members of the public, even if such an accident is due to a work activity within a company.

A non-fatal accident has to be counted as an accident for ESAW, if it resulted in more than 3 days absence from work. Because in Switzerland there is a three days waiting period before dayly allowances are paid, the ESAW definition is transformed into a minimum of one day's daily allowances to be paid.

A fatal accident at work is defined as an accident that leads to the death of a victim within one year of the accident. If the accident is registered as having fatal consequences within the calendar year following the accident, it is considered a fatal accident to ESAW.

The ESAW methodology is in accordance with the ILO (International Labour Office) "Resolution concerning statistics of occupational injuries (resulting from occupational accidents)" adopted by the Sixteenth International Conference of Labour Statisticians in October 1998.

The following 15 phase I and II variables have to be sent by Member States to Eurostat from reference year 2011 onwards on an annual basis:

1. Case number
2. Economic activity of the employer (NACE)
3. Occupation of Victim (ISCO)
4. Age of Victim
5. Sex of Victim
6. Type of Injury
7. Part of Body Injured
8. Geographical Location of the Accident
9. Date of the Accident
10. Time of the Accident (optional)
11. Size of the Enterprise (optional)
12. Nationality of the Victim (optional)
13. Employment Status of the Victim
14. Days Lost (severity)
15. Weight ESAW collection

In addition, three of the following nine phase III variables on 'causes and circumstances of the accident' have to be sent annually to Eurostat from reference year 2013 onwards:

16. - 18. Workstation, Working Environment, Working Process
19. - 20. Specific Physical Activity, Material Agent associated with the of Specific Physical Activity
21. - 22. Deviation, Material Agent associated with the Deviation
23. - 24. Contact - mode of injury, Material Agent associated with the Contact - Mode of injury.

Finally, the weight on Causes and Circumstances has to be sent if the Member State applies an additional sampling for the encoding of the ESAW Phase III variables on causes and circumstances.

If not applicable the default value is 1.

The definition of the variables is stated in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 and further specified in the ESAW methodology.

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).

Data on employed resident population is reported to ESAW, but not on self-employed and family members if working on an informal basis.

Students and family members having work contracts are included.  

Armed forces of Switzerland are not included.

COVERAGE OF PROFESSIONAL STATUS (Annual update expected)

Additional comments on coverage of professionnal status

Codes:

y Professional status fully covered
n Professional status not covered at all
p Professional status partially covered
n.a. Not applicable, i.e. professional status does not exist in country

COVERAGE OF ACCIDENTS OUTSIDE PREMISES (Annual update expected)

Additional comments on coverage of accidents outside premises

Codes:

y Accidents fully covered
n Accidents not covered at all
p Accidents partially covered
F Data of fatal road traffic accidents and fatal accidents on board of any means of transport provided in the main CSV data file
A Data of fatal and non-fatal road traffic accidents as well as fatal and non-fatal accidents on board of any means of transport provided in the main CSV data file

Switzerland.

Data available from 2004.

Not applicable.

The following measurement units are used in ESAW data:

- Number of accidents

- Percentages of accidents (in relation to different totals and breakdowns)

- Incidence rates of accidents: number of accidents per 100,000 workers

The calendar year during which the accidents were reported to have taken place (reference year).

Not applicable

Not applicable.

Confidentiality is regulated by Swiss legal framework through, among others:

- Unfallversicherungsgesetz (UVG)

- Verordnung über die Unfallversicherung (UVV)

- Verordnung über die Statistiken der Unfallversicherung (VSUV)

- Bundesgesetz über den Datenschutz (DSG)

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).

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.

Eurostat disseminates accidents at work data by the occurrence concept as soon as possible after data have been transmitted by a country and validated by Eurostat. When all countries have sent their data for a certain reference year, Eurostat calculates EU aggregates and releases them and all other indicators. This usually takes place in the last quarter of each year. ESAW data is usually released between January - September of each year (in year N+2, where N is the reference year in which the accidents took place), with a focus on end of June - July (release of most countries' data). There is no specific release calendar for ESAW data (see the Eurostat website for all published ESAW data). See section 14 Timeliness and punctuality for more details about the timing and punctuality of ESAW data releases.

Not applicable.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Annual

see www.unfallstatistik.ch for occasional news releases with regard to Switzerland (different statistical definitions may apply)

see Eurostat website for occasional news releases.

see http://www.unfallstatistik.ch/d/publik/publikationen_d.htm for regular publications about Switzerland:

• Unfallstatistik UVG  / Statistiques des accidents LAA (Annual accident statistics, in German and French)
• Fünfjahresbericht UVG  / Rapport quinquennal LAA (Quinquannual accident statistic, in German and French)

see Eurostat website for publications on accidents at work including:

Statistics Explained articles - updated once per year:

1. Accidents at work statistics (main article)
2. Accidents at work by economic activity
3. Accidents at work on causes and circumstances

see http://www.unfallstatistik.ch/f/neuza/neuste_zahlen_f.htm

 Various key figures are available in

- quarterly reports

- annual reports

- sectorial report

- medical statistics

Not available

Not applicable.

None

none

Eurostat (2013): 'European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) - Summary methodology, 2013 edition'.

Not available

Quality reports are available with the national metadata.

Phase I variables and Phase II variables with sampling:
Data from administrative sources. It is therefore assumed that data quality is satisfactory (including relevant checks). Stratification and Randomization identical to what ist described for Phase III.

Phase II variables with sampling and all Phase III variables:
A random subsample of the cases coded at SSUV is re-evaluated by a second person of the SSUV coding staff. The error rate is typically around 1 %.

For details concerning stratification and randomization process see Scholz et al., Direct Health Care Cost and Work Incapacity Related to Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in Switzerland: A Retrospective Analysis from 2008 to 2015 ( https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/20/8/1559/5372440#139684770 )

Continous improvement

Data are used by labor inspectorates and other government users (ministries etc.), trade unions, business associations and media.

The main use consists in monitoring and quantifying risks and costs, including new emerging risks.

No information available.

No additional information to the metadata on EU level available. Information corresponds to the EU metadata.

Close to 100%

REPORTING LEVELS OF ECONOMIC SECTORS (NACE), (Annual update expected)

Global reporting level

Reporting levels by sector

Additional comments on global reporting level

Codes:

N sector not covered by data collection
UNK sector covered but unknown reporting level
(value %) reporting level
(e) rough estimate (instead of "medium" or "high")

The number of notifications is highly accurate in Swiss ESAW data.

The time lag between accidents and their notifications to the insurance did not change much in recent years. There are no significant differences in the number of notifications resulting from this.

IMPORTANT: In Swiss ESAW data sampling only applies to phase II and III variables available in Swiss data.

A good approximation for the relative sampling error of avaiable phase II and III variables is the coefficient of variation (CV) = 1/SQRT(N), where N is the unweighted number of cases. 

Examples:

Raw number of N=100 cases: CV = approximately 10%. 

Raw number of N=10,000 cases: CV = approximately 1%.

Sampling error - indicators

Coefficient of variation (CV) = 1/SQRT(N), where N is the unweighted number of cases.

Coefficient of variation (CV) is

CV approx= 1/SQRT(N)

where N is the unweighted number of cases

Accidents may remain unreported when no claims at the insurance are made.

The extent of such possible under-reporting is unknown.

Very low

Very low

Unknown

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Not applicable

Unknown

Not applicable

The legal requirement for Member States is to send Eurostat ESAW data until 30 June of year N+2, where N is the reference year in which the accidents took place. Data from Switzerland unfortunately are delayed by approximately 3 months due to the delayed data entry process for the detailed sample variables.

As soon as one or several Member States have sent their data they are published on the Eurostat website. In some cases this may happen already some months before the legal deadline of June.

Approximately 18 months after the end of the reference year (experience of previous years, but recently 20+ months).

Approximately 18 months after the end of the reference year (experience of previous years, but recently 20+ months).

Most countries transmit data before and a few days - weeks after the legal deadline of 30 June of year N+2. Eurostat then checks and validates this data and publishes most of it on its website within a few weeks (in July N+2 or before). A few countries may send data only during July - September of year N+2. Data from Switzerland unfortuantely are delayed by approximately 3 months due to the delayed data entry process for the detailed sample variables.

Approximately 18 months after the end of the reference year (experience of previous years, but recently 20+ months).

Regarding comparability of data from Switzerland to those from other countries see a discussion of several aspects in https://www.unfallstatistik.ch/d/publik/unfstat/pdf/Ts21.pdf#page=61

Unknown

Comparability of Swiss ESAW data since 1984 is good, since no major changes in legislation took place.

However, all changes in classification systems for ESAW variables (such as for NACE from Rev1 to Rev2, from ISCO-88 to ISCO-08) have some impact on comparability over time, depending on the time the year took place in a country.

Comparability of Swiss data since 1984 is good, since no major changes in legislation in this time range. For a subset of todays universe, time series can go as far back as 1918 for some variables.

Not applicable.

Not applicable

National accounts are based on SSUV data

Comparability of Swiss data since 1984 is good, since no major changes in legislation took place since that time.

However, all changes in classification systems for ESAW variables (such as for NACE from Rev1 to Rev2, from ISCO-88 to ISCO-08) have some impact on comparability over time, depending on the time the year took place in a country.

No additional information to the metadata on EU level available. Information corresponds to the EU metadata.

Revisions are made when requirements change.

A committee consisting of SSUV members and insurance representatives decides on major changes in data to be delivered to SSUV.

Not applicable

Swiss data set is based on administrative insurance data sources. Data on cases, costs, and covered employers are transmitted from the insurer to SSUV on a yearly basis.

Some phase II and phase III variables are obtained from case files. From all cases a sample is drawn, and for this sample complete case files are transfered to SSUV for a closer statistical evaluation. Coding of these sample cases is performed by a specialized SSUV coding staff.

Continous

Administrative insurance data on cases, costs, and  covered employers are transmitted from the insurer to SSUV.

Some phase III variables are obtained by coding directly from case files. Coding is performed by specialized SSUV staff.

Various automatic and manual checks are performed on data upon reception at SSUV in order to identify possible errors and inconsistencies with the ESAW methodology. Insurers are asked to check all inconsistencies and corrections and re-send data if necessary.

Validation activities at SSUV include:

• completeness of data files transmitted (variable fields)
• correctness of codes for each variable
• comparing aggregated data at insurance level with aggregates at national level
• coverage of variables, sectors, employment types and other breakdowns
• comparing ESAW reference populations with EU Labour Force Survey (LFS) populations
• consistency of totals and various breakdowns
• use of use of variable weights to correct for sampling and/or under-reporting
• checking for outliers

IMPORTANT: The weight mentioned below is only used for available phase III variables.

The related sample of some phase II and all phase III variables consists of several subsamples:

• 100% coverage of fatal cases
• 100% coverage of cases resulting in permanent disability
• 5% sample drawn from the rest of the cases (non-fatal and non-permanent disability cases)

The weight is reciprocal to the probability of a case to be in the sample, i.e. the weight is 1 for all fatal and permanent cases, and 20 for the rest of the sample.

Not applicable

No adjustments done

No adjustments done

No additional information to the metadata on EU level available. Information corresponds to the EU metadata.