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.
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; 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 (not all countries use it yet); NUTS: Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics. Latest NUTS version in froce, depending on the reference year of the data collection. ICSE-93: International Classification by Status in Employment (revision of 1993)
3.3. Coverage - sector
All economic sectors according to NACE Rev. 2 should in principle be covered from reference year 2013 onwards. Before the reference year 2013, there was no obligation to cover sectors outside the so-called 'common branches' A and C – N. However, most Member States covered those non-common sectors B and O – U before on a voluntary basis.
Data delivery for sectors T and U is voluntary
Some sectors and professions are subject to confidentiality rules. According to the ESAW implementing Regulation 349/2011 (Annex II).
Addition to Metadata at National level:
Until 2012, there is no information about the part of the civil servants covered by special insurance systems for civil servants.
Until 2011, there is no information for most of the household workers. The insurance for accidents at work for household workers in the General Social Security System began on 1 January 2012.
Coverage levels for employees by NACE section:
- All NACE sections are fully covered since 2013.
- There was a lack of coverage in public sector and household workers until 2012. The sections partially covered until 2012 were: H (97% in 2012), O (67% in 2012), P (59% in 2012), Q (99% in 2012) and T (6% in 2012).
Coverage level for self-employed:
- As from 2019: Insurance is compulsory for self-employed on a general basis since 2019 (coverage about 98%).
- Until 2018: Insurance was voluntary, coverage was about 20%.
3.3.1. Sector Coverage ESAW
COVERAGE OF ECONOMIC SECTORS (NACE), (Annual update expected)
NACE
NACE Rev.2
Coverage
A
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Y
B
Mining and quarrying
Y
off shores
Y
others
Y
C
Manufacturing
Y
D
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
Y
E
Water supply, sewerage, steam and air conditioning supply
Y
F
Construction
Y
G
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles
Y
H
Transportation and storage
Y
maritime transport (NACE 50)
Y
air transport (NACE 51)
Y
transport via Railways (NACE 49)
Y
post & telecomunications (NACE 53)
Y
I
Accomodation and food service activities
Y
J
Information and communication
Y
K
Financial and insurance activities
Y
L
Real state activities
Y
M
Professional, scientific and technical activities
Y
N
Administrative and support service activities
Y
O
Public administration and defence;compulsory social security
Y
of which police and firebrigades (NACE 84.24 and 84.25)
Y
P
Education
Y
Q
Human health and social work activities
Y
R
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Y
S
Other service activities
Y
T
Activities of households as employers; undiferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use
Y
U
Activites of extra territorial organisations and bodies
Y
Additional comments on coverage of economic sectors
Employees: All of them covered since 2013. Public sector partly covered until 2012.
Self-employed: Insurance is compulsory for self-employed on a general basis since 2019. Coverage was about 20% until 2018, insurance was voluntary.
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
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
At national level, an accident at work is legally defined as 'personal injuries that a worker suffers in the event or as a consequence of work' (article 156, Royal Decree-Legislative 8/2015, General Law of Social Security). For statistical purposes this concept should be understood as the discrete event where such injuries take place. This definition includes cases of less than 4 days of abscence from work, commuting accidents and some accidents from strictly natural cases. These cases are counted in national statistics but they can be identified and are removed from ESAW data.
A fatal accident at work is defined as an accident which leads to the death of a victim within: - One year of the accident (2011 and onwards) - 5 days of the accident (until 2010) Thus, there is a break on fatal accidents series in 2011.
3.4.1. Definition of ESAW variables
COVERAGE OF ESAW VARIABLES (Annual update expected)
Economic activity of the employer
Y
Occupation of the victim
Y
Age of victim
Y
Sex of victim
Y
Type of injury
Y
Part of body injured
Y
Geographical location
Y
Date of the accident
Y
Time of the accident
Y
Size of enterprise
Y
Nationality
Y
Employment status
Y
Days lost
Ynum
Workstation
Y
Working environment
Y
Working process
Y
Specific physical activity
Y
Material agent of Specific physical activity
Y
Deviation
Y
Material agent of Deviation
Y
Contact – mode of injury
Y
Material agent of Contact - Mode of injury
Y
Road traffic accidents (RTA)
Y
Weight
Y
Type of weight (under-reporting - U; sampling - S; special sampling - Sp)
U
Additional comments on coverage of ESAW variables
Economic activity of the employer (NACE): Until 2010, only 3-digit level of the Nace Rev2.
Geographical location (GEO): Until 2008, in case of journey accidents, usual workstation geographical location was used instead of real accident location.
Days lost (SEV):
Numeric information available since 2015, In previous years, only category is available.
Until 2010, fatal accidents only considered those being fatal at the time of notificating the accident (within 5 days after the accident).
Road traffic accidents and on board of any other means of transportation (RTA):
As from 2018, information is available for both fatal and non-fatal cases. Information on road traffic accidents is taken from the notification form, however information for accidents on board of any other means of transportation is inputed through a system of rules that uses the variables on causes and circumstances and occupation.
Until 2017, information is available only for fatal accidents.
Weight (WGT): Only used to correct under-reporting in special insurance systems for civil servants.
Codes:
Coverage y Variable fully covered n Variable not covered at all, i.e. variable is so far not collected in country p Variable partially covered
Days lost y num Days lost are covered and in data file listed by numbers (004 - 182) y cat Days lost are covered and in data file listed by categories (A01 - A06) p num, p cat Days lost are partly covered and listed by numbers (categories)
Type of weight U weight to correct under-reporting S weight to account for sampling Sp weight to correct special sampling
3.5. Statistical unit
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
There is no activity nor occupation excluded because of national confidentiality rules.
3.6.1. Statistical Population ESAW
COVERAGE OF PROFESSIONAL STATUS (Annual update expected)
Professional status
Coverage
1. Self employed
Y1
1.1 Self employed with employees
Y1
1.2 Self employed without employees
Y1
2. Family worker
Y2
3. Employee
Y
3.1 Part time workers
Y
3.2 Casual workers
Y2
3.3 Trainees/Apprentices
Y2
4. Students
N
5. Others
N
Additional comments on coverage of professionnal status
1: Self-employed covered since 2019. Occupational risks coverage was optional for self-employed (about 20% covered) until 2018.
2: Family workers, casual workers and trainees/apprentices are covered by national statistic only if they are afilliated at the national Social Security System.
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)
Accidents in the course of work
Coverage
1. Commuting accidents
N1
2. Accidents in a public place or in a mean of transport during a journey in the course of work
Y
2.1 Road traffic accidents in the course of work (public highways, car parks, internal ways inside the premises of the enterprise)
Y
2.2 Number of fatal road traffic accidents during a journey in the course of work for persons employed outside the NACE Rev. 2 sector H Transportation
54
2.3 Other accidents (slips, falls, aggressions, etc.) in a public place (pavement, staircases, etc.) or in the arrival and starting points (station, port, airport, etc.) of any mean of transport, during a journey in the course of work
Y
2.4 Accidents on board of any means of transport (underground railway, tram, train, boat, plane, etc.) used during a journey in the course of work
Y
2.5 Number of fatal accidents on board of any other means of transport during a journey in the course of work for persons employed outside the NACE Rev. 2 sector H Transportation
33
3. Accidents occurred within the premises of another company than that which employs the victim, or in a private individual, in the course of work
Y
4. Accidents having only a medical origin, in the course of work
N1
Additional comments on coverage of accidents outside premises
1: Commuting accidents and medical origin accidents are collected in national statistics but excluded in ESAW data.
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
3.7. Reference area
Data are available for all EU-Member States, Iceland (from 2012), Norway and Switzerland.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data are available since reference year 1994.
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)
There is a slight difference with the definition in order to keep the same criterium for reference year as used in national statistics.
Accidents are considered in the year where its sick leave begins.
An accident not notificated on time to enter in its proper reference year must be taken in consideration in the following year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The notification procedure and forms are specified in the following national regulations:
- Organic Law 3/2018, of 5 December, on Personal Data Protection. - Royal Decree 3/2010, of 8 January, on National Security Framework. - Law 12/1989, of 9 May, on Public Official Statistics
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
There is currently no treatment of ESAW data with regard to statistical confidentiality taking place.
8.1. Release calendar
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.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not available.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice (European Statistics Code of Practice — revised edition 2017 - Products Catalogues - Eurostat (europa.eu)) Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see worksheet 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.
See 'data' on the Eurostat website (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat; datasets under 'Database by themes/Population and social conditions/Health/Health and safety at work (hsw)/Accidents at work (ESAW…)' ).
Regarding the quality management, it should be explained in two parts, one relative to the General Social Security System and the other relative to the special insurance systems for civil servants.
Regarding the data coming from the General Social Security System:
100% of employees are included in the ESAW reference population since 2013.
98% of self-employed are included in the ESAW reference population since 2019. There was a high under-coverage level in self-employed until 2018, due to insurance was voluntary (coverage was about 20% of self-employed).
There is not under-reporting in data coming from the General Social Security System.
Regarding the data coming from the special systems for civil servants:
Fatal accidents are unknown for a part of these workers. This should be avoided as soon as possible. Labour Inspectorate and unit responsible on public pensions for civil servants insured by special systems have been contacted but they cannot provide further information on this issue until now.
Sources of information should be improved in order to obtain also all non-fatal cases in the public sector through administrative sources, avoiding to use estimates.
Existing current data sources are not fully adapted to ESAW methodology, so it is necessary to make efforts to develop these data sources to include all variables and coding criteria stated in the ESAW methodology.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
In line with the European Union legal framework and principle 6 (impartiality and objectivity) of the Code of Practice, Eurostat develops, produces and disseminates European statistics respecting scientific independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably (see http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/quality/european-statistics-code-of-practice for more information).
Eurostat regularly meets other EU and international organisations as well as representatives of relevant Member State authorities. In addition, it communicates with other user groups such as researchers, students and the media via several channels including its user support, website and through events such as conferences and meetings. The needs and comments from these user groups are continuously taken into account when deciding about what statistics are collected and disseminated. ESAW data users are often interested in information concerning individual economic sectors. Incidence rates are important for comparing the situation in different Member States and economic sectors. While absolute numbers of accidents for individual economic sectors (at NACE Rev.2 at 2-digit or more detailed level) reflect appropriately the accidents reported in Member States, incidence rates (number of accidents per 100,000 workers) depend also on reference populations which are sometimes not very accurate for smaller sectors.
All available information about user satisfaction is taken into account when developing data collections.
However, there is currently no dedicated user satisfaction survey on ESAW statistics.
Information about the downloads of individual datasets, detailed tables, publications and Statistics Explained articles is regularly compiled and analysed.
12.3. Completeness
This file contains sections which list in detail the available variables, economic sectors, employment status and information on traffic accidents.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
All variables for Phase I, II, III are fully provided
12.3.1.1. Data completeness rate of ESAW variables per sector
REPORTING LEVELS OF ECONOMIC SECTORS (NACE), (Annual update expected)
Global reporting level
99%
Reporting levels by sector
A. Agriculture, forestry and fishing
100%
B. Mining and quarrying
100%
off shores
100%
others
100%
C. Manufacturing
100%
D. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
100%
E. Water supply, sewerage, steam and air conditioning supply
100%
F. Construction
100%
G. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles
100%
H. Transportation and storage
100%
maritime transport (NACE 50)
100%
air transport (NACE 51)
100%
transport via Railways (NACE 49)
100%
post & telecomunications (NACE 53)
100%
I. Accomodation and food service activities
100%
J. Information and communication
100%
K. Financial and insurance activities
100%
L. Real state activities
100%
M. Professional, scientific and technical activities
100%
N. Administrative and support service activities
100%
O. Public administration and defence;compulsory social security
96%
of which police and firebrigades (NACE 84.24 and 84.25)
100%
P. Education
71%
Q. Human health and social work activities
100%
R. Arts, entertainment and recreation
100%
S. Other service activities
100%
T. Activities of households as employers; undiferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use
100%
U. Activites of extra territorial organisations and bodies
100%
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")
13.1. Accuracy - overall
As an administrative data collection, the data transmitted by Member States to Eurostat are thought to exactly reflect the number of accidents notified to the relevant national authorities. Therefore, ESAW data are considered to have a high level of accuracy in relation to the absolute number of accidents notified in Member States.
Most countries' data are not any more subject to under-coverage. In general, under-coverage means that a known part of the economy or workforce of a country is not covered by the data, for example if an economic sector or a certain professional status (e.g. civil servants) is by definition not included in the notification system of a country. A significant issue for the accuracy of ESAW in the European Union is assumed to be the under-reporting of accidents (see other sections in this file for more information). Under-reporting means that certain accidents that should have been reported were in fact not reported, e.g. if enterprises or workers are not aware of the obligation/possibility to notify or if they are afraid of the consequences of notification such as possible state investigations and requirements to invest in health and safety. However, even in those countries which suffer from significant under-reporting it is thought that the majority of fatal accidents are reported which then give a more comparable picture for the EU.
In addition, it is assumed that non-fatal accidents are reported to a higher degree in insurance-based systems if they offer significant financial compensation for victims of these accidents.
Incidence rates and standardised incidence rates (number of accidents per 100,000 workers) vary often strongly between the two main types of notification systems, the insurance based and the universal social security based systems as listed before.
Non-fatal accidents (serious accidents) at work: Incidence rates are often only comparable between Member States of the same notification system (insurance or universal social security). In some Member States, weights are added to adjust the number of accidents, e.g. using data from Labour Force Surveys (LFS).
Fatal accidents at work: In general, fatal accidents at work are assumed to be of higher accuracy than non-fatal accidents at work as fatal accidents are usually investigated by relevant state authorities.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
'The estimates carried out because of under-reporting in public sector are detailed in section 18.5 (data compilation).
13.3.1. Coverage error
In Spain, there is an under-coverage trouble that has been reducing since 2012:
Civil servants insured by special systems: Until 2012, no information was collected. Since 2013, all these employees are included, however a part of their accidents at work are still obtained using estimates (see section 18.5 – data compilation).
Social Security Special System for Household Workers (NACE Section T): Owing to the inclusion of this special system into the General Social Security scheme on 1 January 2012, this NACE section was almost out of the ESAW coverage until 2011. The employee coverage in this section is 100% since 2012.
Self-employed: Insurance for accidents at work was voluntary for self-employed until 2018. Insurance is compulsory on a general basis for self-employed since 2019.
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
No processing errors reported.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
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.
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.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
In National Statistics: Provisional results are published monthly, first final year results are published in June of year N+1.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
ESAW final results delivery date:
- 2017: 18 Feb 2019 - 2018: 18 Feb 2020 - 2019: 08 Feb 2021 - 2020: 29 Apr 2022 - 2021: 13 Apr 2023 - 2022: 20 Mar 2024
14.2. Punctuality
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. All data is usually published until September - October of year N+2.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
See above.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Data collection system is uniform across all geographical regions of Spain
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Changes in the ESAW reference population in 2019:
Coverage level for self-employed was about 20% until 2018, due to insurance was voluntary. A change in the regulation made insurance compulsory for nearly all self-employed since 2019 (coverage for self-employed was 98% in 2019).
Taking the employed population of the LFS as a reference, the ESAW reference population went from 85.2% of the LFS in 2018 to 98.5% of the LFS in 2019.
This important change in the ESAW reference population implies a break in all series in 2019.
Changes in the ESAW reference population in 2013:
Since it was compulsory to include all the employees in the public sector in 2013, the reference population increased (artificially) by 6.8% that year. 13,434,869 workers were to be included following the existing criteria in 2012 (General Social Security scheme) and new 909,832 workers (special systems for civil servants) were added to the reference population to fulfil ESAW regulations.
In terms of accidents at work in 2013, 356,857 non-fatal accidents and 262 fatal accidents were registered for workers in the General Social Security scheme, and new 13,319 non-fatal accidents and 8 fatal accidents were recorded for civil servants in special systems.
It is an important change in the NACE sections O and P.
Break in series of fatal accidents in 2011:
Until 2010, an accident at work was reported as fatal only taking into consideration the notification form of the accident at work but not the further fatality notifications.
Since 2011, an accident at work is reported as fatal if the death happens within 1 year after the date of the accident, as ESAW definition requires.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
See item 15.2.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
It is possible to compare data between ESAW and Labour Force Survey ad-hoc modules (LFS AHM).
As LFS AHM is referred to injured workers instead of accidents at work, ESAW incidence rates will be translated to injured workers by 100,000 workers.
ESAW 2020 Non-fatal accidents at work = 388,474 accidents
Reference population = 19,019,463 workers
For workers in the General Social Security scheme, it is available the personal identification of the person injured so a rate injured workers / accidents at work can be obtained for almost all the accidents at work. In this source…
427,861 injured workers / 446,195 accidents at work = 0.958910 persons/total accidents ratio
Then, non-fatal incidence rate in terms of injured workers ESAW 2013 (estimation) = 388,474 * 0.958910 * 100,000 / 19,019,463 = 1,958.6 injured persons by 100,000 workers
LFS AHM 2020 In the LFS AMH 2020, the following data is taken from www.ine.es, table 1.10 of the database, on persons who had an accident being injured during working time, according to the time of absence to work (in thousands). At least 4 days of abscence:
TOTAL (in thousands)
296.2
At least 4 days, but less than 2 weeks
80.7
At least 2 weeks, but less than 1 month
79.0
At least 1 month, but less than 3 months
88.0
At least 3 months, but less than 6 months
26.4
Between 6 an 12 months or expecting no return to work
22.1
So, injured persons with 4 or more days of absence to work are 296,200 according to this source.
The average LFS reference population in 2020 was 19,202,425 workers.
Therefore, the incidence rate in terms of injured workers LFS AHM 2013 = 296,200 * 100,000 / 19,202,425 = 1,542.5 injured persons by 100,000 workers
Comparison ESAW 2020 vs LFS AHM 2020 Incidence rate LFS AHM 2020 / Incidence rate ESAW 2020 = 78.8 % So these sources does not have a good approximate match, but it indicates no under-reporting in data from Spain.
Similar comparison can be done for 2013 and 2007 data:
ESAW 2013 Non-fatal accidents at work = 370,116 accidents
Reference population = 14,344,701 workers
For workers in the General Social Security scheme, it is available the personal identification of the person injured so a rate injured workers / accidents at work can be obtained for almost all the accidents at work. In this source… 342,151 injured workers / 356,857 accidents at work = 0.958790 persons/total accidents ratio
Then, non-fatal incidence rate in terms of injured workers ESAW 2013 (estimation) = 370,116 * 0.958790 * 100,000 / 14,344,701 = 2.473,8 injured persons by 100,000 workers
LFS AHM 2013 In the LFS AMH 2013, the following data is taken from www.ine.es, table 1.10 of the database, on persons who had an accident being injured during working time, according to the time of absence to work (in thousands):
TOTAL:
480.7 thousand persons
0 days and less than 1 day of absence:
87.4 thousand persons
1 to 3 days of absence:
46.4 thousand persons
So, injured persons with 4 or more days of absence to work are 346,900 according to this source.
The average LFS reference population in 2013 was 17,139,000 workers.
Therefore, the incidence rate in terms of injured workers LFS AHM 2013 = 346,900 * 100,000 / 17,139,000 = 2,024.0 injured persons by 100,000 workers
Comparison ESAW 2013 vs LFS AHM 2013 Incidence rate LFS AHM 2013 / Incidence rate ESAW 2013 = 81.8 % So these sources does not have a good approximate match.
ESAW 2007
Non-fatal accidents at work = 771,014 accidents Reference population ESAW = 16,057,933 workers Rate injured workers / accidents at work = 720,347 injured workers / 771,014 accidents = 0.934285
Non-fatal incidence rate in terms of injured workers ESAW 2007 = 771,014 * 0.934285 * 100,000 / 16,057,933 = 4.485,9 injured persons by 100,000 workers
LFS AHM 2007
Non-fatal incidence rate in terms of injured workers LFS AHM 2007 = 580,400 * 100,000 / 20,579,900 = 2.820,3 injured persons by 100,000 workers
The comparison of these sources should be done cautiously because of methodological differences.
In order to assess under-reporting, for both years 2007, 2013 and 2020, LFS AHM rate was lower than ESAW rate, so it is found that under-reporting rate can be assumed to be nearly 0.
In 2020, reference populations ESAW and LFS are close. (Ratio ESAW / LFS = 99.0%)
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
ESAW data on the Eurostat website since 2008 are largely coherent between the different datasets.
There are some exceptions if some countries use old classification systems such as for ISCO-88 classification for occupations.
Overall working time to produce ESAW 2022 in Spain was 132 hours·person.
An estimation in euros for that working time (gross salary and social security contributions of the workers involved) is 3.611,8 euros.
17.1. Data revision - policy
ESAW data are occasionally revised, such as when a country notifies Eurostat about changes in the data, metadata and reference population.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The practice for data revisions is similar to the practice of publishing new data: either the country sends revised data to Eurostat which checks, validates and publishes it in agreement with the responsible national authority, or Eurostat calculates revised data and sends it to the country's authority for agreement.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not available.
18.1. Source data
The statistical and administrative sources used to obtain the ESAW data are detailed below:
Source 1:National Statistics of Accidents at Work
National Statistics of Accidents at Work are included in the National Statistics Plans (the Plan that includes the current statistics is the National Statistic Plan 2021-2024 approved by the Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December 2020).
They are produced by the Deputy-Directorate General of Statistics and Social-Labour Analysis of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy.
- Workers included in these statistics:
Those insured under the General Social Security scheme:
Employees: All included since 2013.
Until 2012: Most of household workers not included.
Self-employed: Nearly all of them (about 98%) included since 2019.
Until 2018: Only included those self-employed who voluntarily (or compulsorily in certain cases) pay the pertinent fee to be insured for accidents at work and occupational diseases (about 20% of self-employed).
- Reference years in ESAW: Since 1990.
The percentage of the ESAW reference population and accidents at work represented by this source is:
Until 2012: National Statistics of Accidents at Work was the only source for ESAW.
2013: 93.7% of the reference population and 96.4% of the accidents at work
2018: 94.9% of the reference population and 97.8% of the accidents at work
2019: 95.7% of the reference population and 98.2% of the accidents at work (most of self-employed were out of the reference population until 2018)
2020: 95.6% of the reference population and 98.4% of the accidents at work
2021: 95.7% of the reference population and 98.4% of the accidents at work
2022: 95.8% of the reference population and 98.4% of the accidents at work
Until 2012, this source was the only one used for ESAW. Since 2013, delivering data of accidents at work for all employees is compulsory, thus looking for new sources became necessary in order to provide coverage to the part of the public sector from which no data had been collected by then.
Primary administrative sources: System Delt@ (Electronic Declaration of Injured Workers) (In Spanish: Sistema Delt@ – Declaración Electrónica de Trabajadores Accidentados).
This is the administrative registry where accidents at work are to be notified when the injured person is a worker insured under the General Social Security scheme.
This registry was launched on 1 January 2003, being still available the paper notification form during the year 2003. On 1 January 2004, the use of web-based technology and electronic signature became compulsory, so the paper form was discontinued.
The purposes of this administrative source are:
Research on occupational risks matters.
Management of Social Security benefits.
Production of statistics of accident at work at European, National and Regional level.
The notification form used in System Delt@ was designed to fulfil with ESAW methodological requirements (both coverage of variables and valid values).
In the autonomous communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country there are additional notification registries. (In Catalonia, the employer can choose either the national registry or the regional registry for the whole notification procedure; in the Basque Country, a part of the procedure is performed on Delt@ and the remaining part is carried out on the regional registry).
These regional registries use the same notification form as in the national registry, however available in Catalan and Basque, respectively.
The Catalan Labour Authority and the Basque Labour Authority deliver on a monthly basis the information about the accepted cases of accidents at work to the Ministry of Employment and Social Security for statistical use.
Source 2:Data files extracted from Human Resources Databases of certain public sector bodies
- Workers included:
Civil servants and military personnel insured by special Social Security systems belonging to the following public sector bodies:
Military Personnel of the Armed Forces (NACE code 8422)
Civil servants of the National Police (NACE code 8424)
Military Personnel of the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) (NACE code 8424)
Civil servants of the Spanish Post Office and Telegraph Service (Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos, S.A.) (NACE code 5310)
In 2022, this source represents 1.4% of the reference population and 0.8% of the accidents at work.
- Reference years in ESAW:
Files from the Armed Forces and the National Police were available since 2013.
Information on overall results from the Civil Guard was available in 2013, however case-by-case detailed information since 2014.
File from the Spanish Post Office and Telegraph Service was available since 2014.
- Original administrative sources: Human resources databases. The primary purpose of these original sources is the staff management, although they are also used in occupational risks management.
In the case of the Armed Forces, the source is also used to compile the Statistics of Accidents and Aggressions in the Armed Forces (Estadística de Accidentes y Agresiones en las Fuerzas Armadas) which are included in the Defence Statistics Plans.
- Weaknesses: Given that these sources were not designed according to the ESAW methodology, some of the variables are missing at the moment, mainly variables on causes and circumstances. Therefore, efforts on this issue should be carried out over the coming years.
Source 3:Estimations of the part of the public sector not covered by the previous sources
- Workers included:
Owing to not every civil servant insured by special Social Security systems are covered by the source 2, it is necessary to obtain data of their non-fatal accidents at work through estimates, as permitted by the Regulation 349/2011. So the workers included in this source are those insured by special Social Security systems for civil servants who have not been able to be included in the source 2.
The methodology used to compile the estimations of non-fatal accidents is detailed in the section 18.5 - Data compilation.
Fatal accidents are treated separately in order to guarantee that these records are properly filled up and to ensure the weight equal to 1.0.
In 2022, this source represents 2.7% of the reference population and 0.7% (estimated) of the accidents at work.
- Reference years in ESAW: Used since 2013.
Data sources related to the reference population
Besides the sources containing the cases of accidents at work, sources containing the related reference population are also needed:
For workers insured under the General Social Security scheme: A file containing aggregated data about the workers insured for accidents at work is provided by the Social Security. It is extracted from affiliation databases. Data provided consist of last day of month data, so annual data are the 12-month average.
For civil servants insured by special systems: The 3 mutual insurance bodies provide data on affiliates monthly or quarterly.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual
18.3. Data collection
Source 1:National Statistics of Accidents at Work Data collection is compulsory using web-based technology and electronic signature since 1 January 2004. The communication with the System Delt@ can be done using on-line forms or using a batch system (based on XML files). Batch system allows the informant to deliver or download multiple records within a single operation, thus Human Resources databases in companies and public bodies can get in connection to System Delt@ achieving to avoid filling out large on-line forms manually and then reducing administrative burden. It is especially interesting for large-size and also medium-size companies, occupational risks insurance entities and Labour Authorities.
The employer (or the self-employed) is responsible to notify the accident at work. The notification must be submitted within 5 business days counted since the medical leave begins.
When the notification is electronically signed by the employer, it is made available to the insurance entity contracted to cover the occupational risks by the employer. This insurance entity must be either one of the 19 Mutual insurance companies who collaborate with the Social Security (95% of cases), or a Social Security public body (3% of cases), or the own company (as self-insurer) when legal requirements have been met by the company (2% of cases). Within 10 business days, the insurer must either accept the notification form, or turn it down because the insurer consider the case is not an accident at work, or send it back to the employer to amend coding errors in the form.
Finally, when the insurer accepts the notification form, it is made available to the Labour Authority of the province where is located the workplace of which the injured person is registered in the Social Security. Equally, the Labour Authority must accept or send the notification form back.
The case is included in the statistics only when the notification form is already signed by both the employer (or the self-employed), the insurance entity and the Labour Authority.
This procedure is identical in the registries of Catalonia and the Basque Country, with the exception of the availability of the form translated to Catalan and Basque, respectively.
The notification form is set down in the Order TAS/2926/2002, of 19 November 2002. It is made up of 7 sections and one preliminary field:
Kind of notification: Accident / Relapse (relapses does not count in statistics)
o 1. Worker data:
Name and surname
Sex
ID number / Passport number
Social Security number
Date of birth
Date of entry in the company
Nationality
Occupation (National ISCO, 3 digit-level)
Time worked in the current working post (months, or days if less than 1 month)
Type of contract
Working status (employee/self-employed, public sector/private sector)
Social Security System
Occupational risks premium code
Address and telephone number
o 2. Company where worker is affiliated:
Social Security Code of workplace
ID number (of the company)
Name of the company
National NACE main activity (3 digit-level)
Size of workplace (number of persons)
Address and telephone number
Company contracted or subcontracted at the time of the accident (Yes / No)
Temporary agency (Yes / No)
Preventive organization mode (among the 5 currently existing by law)
o 3. Exact address and workplace where the accident happened:
Kind of place of the accident (usual workplace / other workplace / outside of any workplace but in working time / commuting accident)
Road traffic accident (Yes / No)
Exact address of the accident
When accident outside of any working place: Address of the workplace where the worker is given instructions
o 4. Accident:
Date and hour of the accident
Hour of working time (1st, 2nd, 3rd, …)
Date of medical leave
Doing habitual tasks (Yes / No)
Occupation risks assessment of the work post (Yes / No)
Literal description of the accident
Working environment (according to ESAW classification)
Working process (according to ESAW classification)
Specific Physical Activity (according to ESAW classification)
Material agent associated with Specific Physical Activity (according to ESAW classification)
Deviation (according to ESAW classification)
Material agent associated with Deviation (according to ESAW classification)
Contact-Mode of Injury (according to ESAW classification)
Material agent associated with Contact-Mode of Injury (according to ESAW classification)
Accident affected to more than 1 worker (Yes / No)
Wittnesses (names and contact information)
o 5. Care-related data:
Type of injury (according to ESAW classification)
Part of the body injured (according to ESAW classification)
Initial severity (minor / severe / fatal)
Name of the doctor who attended the injured person
Kind of assistance (ambulatory care / hospital care)
Name of the hospital (if it is the case)
o 6. Economic data:
Several variables to calculate the temporary incapacity benefit
o 7. Actors involved and signatures:
Name and charge of the employer’s representative
Date of submission by the employer’s representative
Insurance entity
Date of approval by the insurance entity
Province of the Labour Authority
Date of approval by the Labour Authority
Reason of non-acceptance of the notification (where appropriate)
Additionally, there exists a notification form to be used when the temporary incapacity finishes (medical discharge), whatever reason (recovery, health improvement that allows to return to work, fatality, permanent incapacity proposal, or administrative reasons). The insurance entity is the responsible to submit this form. The proposal of this additional form is mainly to calculate the calendar days of absence to work for each accident.
This additional form includes: worker’s identity data, date of accident, date of medical leave, date of discharge, reason of discharge and final medical diagnosis.
Source 2:Data files extracted from Human Resources Databases of certain public sector bodies
Data collection consists on extraction of relevant records and fields from Human Resources databases in the Armed Forces, the National Police, the National Guard, and the Spanish Post Office and Telegraph Service.
18.4. Data validation
Source 1:National Statistics of Accidents at Work Validation of data coming from System Delt@ (and additional registries in Catalonia and the Basque Country) are carried out in several steps of the data processing.
1. Collection:
o 1.1. When data filled in the notification form is about to be submitted by the employer, data are validated in order to accepted the form only if a set of validations is surpassed. Validations consist on single field valid values tests, cross-validation among different fields of the same record and cross-validation against existing records in the database. The purpose of these validations is to avoid error coding as much as possible before submitting data.
o 1.2. When data is being accepted by the insurer and the Labour Authorities, data correctness is assessed so that the notification form is either amended or sent back to the employer in the case of coding errors.
o 1.3. Troubleshooting when processing the notification forms is attended by a specific User Service Centre.
2. Statistical processing:
o 2.1. Statistical reviews are published in the website of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security on a monthly basis, containing provisional aggregated data to month M–2 that year. Basic data validations and refinements (duplicate removal and validations in main fields) are carried out. Incidence rates broken down by province and NACE section are calculated and compared with their counterparts of the same period in the last year.
o 2.2. Annually, detailed final figures for the last year are published in the website of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security. During the statistical processing, a detailed micro-data validation and refinement is performed. Incidence rates, frequency rates, severity rates and average length of medical leaves are calculated. Absolute values and the above-mentioned rates are compared with their counterparts in previous years.
o 2.3. All fatal accidents and some non-fatal accidents are revised one by one by the staff who compiles these statistics, to detect and correct coding mistakes. In case of doubt either the employer, or the insurance entity, or the Labour Authority is contacted, depending on the case.
Source 2:Data files extracted from Human Resources Databases of certain public sector bodies Frequency tables are calculated to compare them with the previous year.
ESAW micro-data:European Statistics of Accidents at Work
During the ESAW micro-data compilation, value format correctness is checked for all variables. Once the micro-data file is finished, a set of frequency tables is revised and compared with the previous year frequency tables.
18.5. Data compilation
Source 1:National Statistics of Accidents at Work
During the processing of the National Statistics of Accident at Work the following adjustments are done:
NACE activity: The final value is taken from the Social Security registry where the NACE value is known for every workplace code. The value took from this registry is considered more reliable than the response from the employer. Moreover, NACE is asked at 3-digit level in the System Delt@ form whereas 4-digit level is available in the Social Security registry (as it is required in ESAW).
Severity (days lost): Owing to the information about the calendar days lost due to an accident at work is obtained from an additional notification that due to be released by the insurance entity when the temporary incapacity finishes, in a certain percentage of cases there is not found the additional form to match with the main notification and therefore it is not possible to know the actual severity. This percentage was 10-13% during the years 2010–2013, however it has been gradually decreasing to 3.5%-4.0% since 2015, after having made efforts to improve the response rate by contacting insurance entities. In the cases of unknown severity, this variable is inputted using hot-deck imputation and using as stratification variables the initial severity (minor / severe), the type of injury and the part of the body injured. The purpose of this imputation is to be able to obtain statistics of calendar days lost in the National Statistics.
Source 2:Data files extracted from Human Resources Databases of certain public sector bodies
It is necessary to recode the variables where the used classification does not match with the ESAW methodology, in some cases this recoding must be done field by field manually (for example, a literal description is the available information) and in other cases the recoding can be done automatically. This recoding is mainly necessary for causes and circumstances variables.
Source 3: Estimations of the part of the public sector not covered by the previous sources
The methodology used to obtain the estimates for all these non-represented group of workers consists on splitting this set of workers into groups so that the workers belonging to each group are considered homogeneous in terms of its occupational risks, and therefore, in terms of its incidence rate. After that, for each non-represented group Ai it is necessary to find another group of workers Bi represented in the existing sources looking for similar characteristics in terms of occupational and consequently to assume that incidence rates are equal in Ai and Bi.
The estimates were translated into the micro-data by using the weighting variable WGT or, when that not were possible, a set of records was constructed, in order to represent properly the characteristics of the group of workers to be estimated.
Fatal cases are confirmed for the part of these civil servants belonging to the General National Administration, but remain unknown for civil servants belonging to Judicial Power and under Regional and Local administrations.
ESAW micro-data: European Statistics of Accidents at Work
Once the parts of the file coming from the sources detailed above are compiled, the next step is to bind these parts and check the correctness of the file.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
In 2022, there was imputation caused by non-response and thus use of estimates for accidents of civil servants in special insurance systems (see section 18.5 – data compilation). It affected 0.71% (estimated) of the total ESAW accidents in Spain. Therefore, for each variable, an imputation rate of 0.0071 can be considered.
Additionally, for the variable “Severity (days lost)”, when severity is unknown in the National Statistics of Accidents at Work this variable is imputed (see section 18.5 – data compilation), and this imputation is taken into consideration for ESAW. In 2022, it affected 3.16% of the total ESAW accidents in Spain. Therefore, adding the imputation caused by non-response (0.71%), the variable “Severity (days lost)” has a total imputation rate of 0.0387.
Summary. QPI A5 – Imputation rate – Reference year 2022
Variable(s)
A5 Imputation rate
Severity (days lost)
0.0387
Rest of variables
0.0071
18.6. Adjustment
In general, there are no adjustments done for ESAW data.
ESAW standardised and non-standardised incidence rates are checked to some degree for outliers. In case of unreasonable high or low values of these incidence rates, in particular for certain more detailed breakdowns of data, Eurostat may remove related incidence rates from dissemination and replace the values by appropriate codes.
As ESAW is an annual administrative data collection, there are no seasonal adjustments nor other time series adjustments done.
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.
20 March 2024
At national level, an accident at work is legally defined as 'personal injuries that a worker suffers in the event or as a consequence of work' (article 156, Royal Decree-Legislative 8/2015, General Law of Social Security). For statistical purposes this concept should be understood as the discrete event where such injuries take place. This definition includes cases of less than 4 days of abscence from work, commuting accidents and some accidents from strictly natural cases. These cases are counted in national statistics but they can be identified and are removed from ESAW data.
A fatal accident at work is defined as an accident which leads to the death of a victim within: - One year of the accident (2011 and onwards) - 5 days of the accident (until 2010) Thus, there is a break on fatal accidents series in 2011.
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).
There is no activity nor occupation excluded because of national confidentiality rules.
Data are available for all EU-Member States, Iceland (from 2012), Norway and Switzerland.
There is a slight difference with the definition in order to keep the same criterium for reference year as used in national statistics.
Accidents are considered in the year where its sick leave begins.
An accident not notificated on time to enter in its proper reference year must be taken in consideration in the following year.
As an administrative data collection, the data transmitted by Member States to Eurostat are thought to exactly reflect the number of accidents notified to the relevant national authorities. Therefore, ESAW data are considered to have a high level of accuracy in relation to the absolute number of accidents notified in Member States.
Most countries' data are not any more subject to under-coverage. In general, under-coverage means that a known part of the economy or workforce of a country is not covered by the data, for example if an economic sector or a certain professional status (e.g. civil servants) is by definition not included in the notification system of a country. A significant issue for the accuracy of ESAW in the European Union is assumed to be the under-reporting of accidents (see other sections in this file for more information). Under-reporting means that certain accidents that should have been reported were in fact not reported, e.g. if enterprises or workers are not aware of the obligation/possibility to notify or if they are afraid of the consequences of notification such as possible state investigations and requirements to invest in health and safety. However, even in those countries which suffer from significant under-reporting it is thought that the majority of fatal accidents are reported which then give a more comparable picture for the EU.
In addition, it is assumed that non-fatal accidents are reported to a higher degree in insurance-based systems if they offer significant financial compensation for victims of these accidents.
Incidence rates and standardised incidence rates (number of accidents per 100,000 workers) vary often strongly between the two main types of notification systems, the insurance based and the universal social security based systems as listed before.
Non-fatal accidents (serious accidents) at work: Incidence rates are often only comparable between Member States of the same notification system (insurance or universal social security). In some Member States, weights are added to adjust the number of accidents, e.g. using data from Labour Force Surveys (LFS).
Fatal accidents at work: In general, fatal accidents at work are assumed to be of higher accuracy than non-fatal accidents at work as fatal accidents are usually investigated by relevant state authorities.
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)
Source 1:National Statistics of Accidents at Work
During the processing of the National Statistics of Accident at Work the following adjustments are done:
NACE activity: The final value is taken from the Social Security registry where the NACE value is known for every workplace code. The value took from this registry is considered more reliable than the response from the employer. Moreover, NACE is asked at 3-digit level in the System Delt@ form whereas 4-digit level is available in the Social Security registry (as it is required in ESAW).
Severity (days lost): Owing to the information about the calendar days lost due to an accident at work is obtained from an additional notification that due to be released by the insurance entity when the temporary incapacity finishes, in a certain percentage of cases there is not found the additional form to match with the main notification and therefore it is not possible to know the actual severity. This percentage was 10-13% during the years 2010–2013, however it has been gradually decreasing to 3.5%-4.0% since 2015, after having made efforts to improve the response rate by contacting insurance entities. In the cases of unknown severity, this variable is inputted using hot-deck imputation and using as stratification variables the initial severity (minor / severe), the type of injury and the part of the body injured. The purpose of this imputation is to be able to obtain statistics of calendar days lost in the National Statistics.
Source 2:Data files extracted from Human Resources Databases of certain public sector bodies
It is necessary to recode the variables where the used classification does not match with the ESAW methodology, in some cases this recoding must be done field by field manually (for example, a literal description is the available information) and in other cases the recoding can be done automatically. This recoding is mainly necessary for causes and circumstances variables.
Source 3: Estimations of the part of the public sector not covered by the previous sources
The methodology used to obtain the estimates for all these non-represented group of workers consists on splitting this set of workers into groups so that the workers belonging to each group are considered homogeneous in terms of its occupational risks, and therefore, in terms of its incidence rate. After that, for each non-represented group Ai it is necessary to find another group of workers Bi represented in the existing sources looking for similar characteristics in terms of occupational and consequently to assume that incidence rates are equal in Ai and Bi.
The estimates were translated into the micro-data by using the weighting variable WGT or, when that not were possible, a set of records was constructed, in order to represent properly the characteristics of the group of workers to be estimated.
Fatal cases are confirmed for the part of these civil servants belonging to the General National Administration, but remain unknown for civil servants belonging to Judicial Power and under Regional and Local administrations.
ESAW micro-data: European Statistics of Accidents at Work
Once the parts of the file coming from the sources detailed above are compiled, the next step is to bind these parts and check the correctness of the file.
The statistical and administrative sources used to obtain the ESAW data are detailed below:
Source 1:National Statistics of Accidents at Work
National Statistics of Accidents at Work are included in the National Statistics Plans (the Plan that includes the current statistics is the National Statistic Plan 2021-2024 approved by the Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December 2020).
They are produced by the Deputy-Directorate General of Statistics and Social-Labour Analysis of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy.
- Workers included in these statistics:
Those insured under the General Social Security scheme:
Employees: All included since 2013.
Until 2012: Most of household workers not included.
Self-employed: Nearly all of them (about 98%) included since 2019.
Until 2018: Only included those self-employed who voluntarily (or compulsorily in certain cases) pay the pertinent fee to be insured for accidents at work and occupational diseases (about 20% of self-employed).
- Reference years in ESAW: Since 1990.
The percentage of the ESAW reference population and accidents at work represented by this source is:
Until 2012: National Statistics of Accidents at Work was the only source for ESAW.
2013: 93.7% of the reference population and 96.4% of the accidents at work
2018: 94.9% of the reference population and 97.8% of the accidents at work
2019: 95.7% of the reference population and 98.2% of the accidents at work (most of self-employed were out of the reference population until 2018)
2020: 95.6% of the reference population and 98.4% of the accidents at work
2021: 95.7% of the reference population and 98.4% of the accidents at work
2022: 95.8% of the reference population and 98.4% of the accidents at work
Until 2012, this source was the only one used for ESAW. Since 2013, delivering data of accidents at work for all employees is compulsory, thus looking for new sources became necessary in order to provide coverage to the part of the public sector from which no data had been collected by then.
Primary administrative sources: System Delt@ (Electronic Declaration of Injured Workers) (In Spanish: Sistema Delt@ – Declaración Electrónica de Trabajadores Accidentados).
This is the administrative registry where accidents at work are to be notified when the injured person is a worker insured under the General Social Security scheme.
This registry was launched on 1 January 2003, being still available the paper notification form during the year 2003. On 1 January 2004, the use of web-based technology and electronic signature became compulsory, so the paper form was discontinued.
The purposes of this administrative source are:
Research on occupational risks matters.
Management of Social Security benefits.
Production of statistics of accident at work at European, National and Regional level.
The notification form used in System Delt@ was designed to fulfil with ESAW methodological requirements (both coverage of variables and valid values).
In the autonomous communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country there are additional notification registries. (In Catalonia, the employer can choose either the national registry or the regional registry for the whole notification procedure; in the Basque Country, a part of the procedure is performed on Delt@ and the remaining part is carried out on the regional registry).
These regional registries use the same notification form as in the national registry, however available in Catalan and Basque, respectively.
The Catalan Labour Authority and the Basque Labour Authority deliver on a monthly basis the information about the accepted cases of accidents at work to the Ministry of Employment and Social Security for statistical use.
Source 2:Data files extracted from Human Resources Databases of certain public sector bodies
- Workers included:
Civil servants and military personnel insured by special Social Security systems belonging to the following public sector bodies:
Military Personnel of the Armed Forces (NACE code 8422)
Civil servants of the National Police (NACE code 8424)
Military Personnel of the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) (NACE code 8424)
Civil servants of the Spanish Post Office and Telegraph Service (Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos, S.A.) (NACE code 5310)
In 2022, this source represents 1.4% of the reference population and 0.8% of the accidents at work.
- Reference years in ESAW:
Files from the Armed Forces and the National Police were available since 2013.
Information on overall results from the Civil Guard was available in 2013, however case-by-case detailed information since 2014.
File from the Spanish Post Office and Telegraph Service was available since 2014.
- Original administrative sources: Human resources databases. The primary purpose of these original sources is the staff management, although they are also used in occupational risks management.
In the case of the Armed Forces, the source is also used to compile the Statistics of Accidents and Aggressions in the Armed Forces (Estadística de Accidentes y Agresiones en las Fuerzas Armadas) which are included in the Defence Statistics Plans.
- Weaknesses: Given that these sources were not designed according to the ESAW methodology, some of the variables are missing at the moment, mainly variables on causes and circumstances. Therefore, efforts on this issue should be carried out over the coming years.
Source 3:Estimations of the part of the public sector not covered by the previous sources
- Workers included:
Owing to not every civil servant insured by special Social Security systems are covered by the source 2, it is necessary to obtain data of their non-fatal accidents at work through estimates, as permitted by the Regulation 349/2011. So the workers included in this source are those insured by special Social Security systems for civil servants who have not been able to be included in the source 2.
The methodology used to compile the estimations of non-fatal accidents is detailed in the section 18.5 - Data compilation.
Fatal accidents are treated separately in order to guarantee that these records are properly filled up and to ensure the weight equal to 1.0.
In 2022, this source represents 2.7% of the reference population and 0.7% (estimated) of the accidents at work.
- Reference years in ESAW: Used since 2013.
Data sources related to the reference population
Besides the sources containing the cases of accidents at work, sources containing the related reference population are also needed:
For workers insured under the General Social Security scheme: A file containing aggregated data about the workers insured for accidents at work is provided by the Social Security. It is extracted from affiliation databases. Data provided consist of last day of month data, so annual data are the 12-month average.
For civil servants insured by special systems: The 3 mutual insurance bodies provide data on affiliates monthly or quarterly.
Annual.
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.
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.
Data collection system is uniform across all geographical regions of Spain
Changes in the ESAW reference population in 2019:
Coverage level for self-employed was about 20% until 2018, due to insurance was voluntary. A change in the regulation made insurance compulsory for nearly all self-employed since 2019 (coverage for self-employed was 98% in 2019).
Taking the employed population of the LFS as a reference, the ESAW reference population went from 85.2% of the LFS in 2018 to 98.5% of the LFS in 2019.
This important change in the ESAW reference population implies a break in all series in 2019.
Changes in the ESAW reference population in 2013:
Since it was compulsory to include all the employees in the public sector in 2013, the reference population increased (artificially) by 6.8% that year. 13,434,869 workers were to be included following the existing criteria in 2012 (General Social Security scheme) and new 909,832 workers (special systems for civil servants) were added to the reference population to fulfil ESAW regulations.
In terms of accidents at work in 2013, 356,857 non-fatal accidents and 262 fatal accidents were registered for workers in the General Social Security scheme, and new 13,319 non-fatal accidents and 8 fatal accidents were recorded for civil servants in special systems.
It is an important change in the NACE sections O and P.
Break in series of fatal accidents in 2011:
Until 2010, an accident at work was reported as fatal only taking into consideration the notification form of the accident at work but not the further fatality notifications.
Since 2011, an accident at work is reported as fatal if the death happens within 1 year after the date of the accident, as ESAW definition requires.
