National Statistics Office 

Unit C2 Labour Market and Information Society Statistics

National Statistics Office, Labour Market and Information Society Statistics Unit, Lascaris War Rooms, Valletta VLT 2000, Malta.

Harmonised data on accidents at work are based on the methodology of the 'European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW)'.

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 data is presented in the form of numbers, percentages, incidence rates and standardised incidence rates of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work.

- Numbers correspond to a simple count of all non-fatal and fatal accidents for the entirety or certain breakdowns of the data;
- Percentages represent shares of breakdowns;
- The incidence rate of non-fatal or fatal accidents at work is the number of serious or fatal accidents per 100,000 persons in employment;
- The standardised incidence rates of non-fatal or fatal accidents at work aim to eliminate differences in the structures of countries' economies (see section 20.6 Adjustment for more details).

The incidence rate indicates the relative importance of non-fatal or fatal accidents at work in the working population. For both types of accidents at work the numerator is the number of accidents that occurred during the year. The denominator is the reference population (i.e. the number of persons in employment) expressed in 100,000 persons.

The reference population (or number of persons in employment) related to the national ESAW reporting system is provided by the Member States, either from administrative sources related to accidents at work or from the EU Labour Force Survey (LFS). National data on accidents at work are compiled in line with the ESAW methodology. Variables collected cover all variables of Phase 1 and 2 and four variables which are part of the Phase 3 list, namely, working environment,deviation, contact mode of injury and material agent of deviation.

Accidents at work are collected by two separate entities. Non-fatal accidents claims are collected by the Department of Social Security. Claims are made irrespective  of length of absence from work.

Data on fatal accidents is provided by the  Occupational Health and Safety Authority.

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 2013: Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics. The current NUTS 2013 classification is valid from 1 January 2015, though many datasets will still include other NUTS versions.
ICSE-93: International Classification by Status in Employment (revision of 1993)

For full details on these classifications, please refer to the classifications tab in 

https://metadata.nso.gov.mt/classificationdetails.aspx?id=NACE%20Rev.%202

https://metadata.nso.gov.mt/classificationdetails.aspx?id=ISCO%202008

https://metadata.nso.gov.mt/classificationdetails.aspx?id=NUTS

All economic sectors A - S according to NACE Rev. 2 are 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. 

The NACE sectors are (all branches, at one digit level):
A AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHING
B MINING AND QUARRYING
C MANUFACTURING
D ELECTRICITY, GAS, STEAM AND AIR CONDITIONING SUPPLY
E WATER SUPPLY; SEWERAGE, WASTE MANAGEMENT AND REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES
F CONSTRUCTION
G WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE; REPAIR OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES
H TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE
I ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICE ACTIVITIES
J INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
K FINANCIAL AND INSURANCE ACTIVITIES
L REAL ESTATE ACTIVITIES
M PROFESSIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
N ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT SERVICE ACTIVITIES
O PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEFENCE; COMPULSORY SOCIAL SECURITY
P EDUCATION
Q HUMAN HEALTH AND SOCIAL WORK ACTIVITIES
R ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION
S OTHER SERVICE ACTIVITIES
T ACTIVITIES OF HOUSEHOLDS AS EMPLOYERS; U0NDIFFERENTIATED GOODS- AND SERVICES-PRODUCING ACTIVITIES OF HOUSEHOLDS FOR OWN USE
U ACTIVITIES OF EXTRATERRITORIAL ORGANISATIONS AND BODIES

COVERAGE OF ECONOMIC SECTORS (NACE), (Annual update expected)

Additional comments on coverage of economic sectors

National information on accidents at work cover any claim for an injury benefit irrespective of the number of days of absence.

When providing data at EU level, only accidents resulting in more than three days' of absence are disseminated.

COVERAGE OF ESAW VARIABLES (Annual update expected)

Additional comments on coverage of ESAW variables

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

Data is recorded for each accident, hence the same person may result to be in the dataset for more than once if s/he has more than one accident during the reference year.

In principle all accidents at work should be covered that fulfil the definition of '3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions'.

In terms of employment types covered, Member States are required to report on 'employees'. The other employment types (self-employed, family members, students and others) are voluntary.

In addition to NACE sector O (see section 3.3. Coverage – sector), some professions (occupations) are also subject to national confidentiality rules and delivered on a voluntary basis as mentioned in annex II of the ESAW implementing Regulation 349/2011:

For ISCO – 08:
- 0 Armed forces occupations
- 3351 Customs and border inspectors
- 3355 Police inspectors and detectives
- 541 Protective services workers
a. 5411 Fire-fighters
b. 5412 Police officers
c. 5413 Prison guards
d. 5414 Security guards
e. 5419 Protective services workers not elsewhere classified

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

Data is available for Malta(MT001) and Gozo(MT002) according to NUTS 3 classification. 

Data is available from 2008.

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).

Our Office is bound by the Malta Statistics Act which gives the authority to collect such data from the relevant administrative sources.

http://msa.gov.mt/en/legislation_and_policy/Documents/Malta_Statistics_Authority_Act.pdf

Not applicable.

A internal policy on anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation is in place to ascertain that adequate methods are used for the protection of data which the office collects and shares with the public in its capacity as the National Statistics Office.  The policy is meant to safeguard confidentiality of both personal and business data entrusted to the NSO.  The document provides guidance for all NSO employees who process data on a daily basis as to how anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation methods should be applied.  The policy applies to all confidential, restricted and internal information, regardless of form (paper or electronic documents, applications and databases) that is received, processed, stored and disseminated by the NSO.

No data treatment on ESAW related statistics takes place when transmitting information.

At a national level, data on accidents and fatalities at work are published bi-annually together with a revision of the reference quarters in the previous year.

http://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_C2/Labour_Market_Statistics/Pages/Accidents-at-Work.aspx

http://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_C2/Labour_Market_Statistics/Pages/Fatalities-at-Work.aspx

http://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

Please refer to the dissemination policy:

https://nso.gov.mt/policies/

Sub-annual dissemination at a national level, annual dissemination at EU level.

See NSO website (http://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_C2/Labour_Market_Statistics/Pages/Accidents-at-Work.aspx)

Not applicable

Not available

Not available

Users can request to have access to microdata.  Such requests are reviewed by an internal group and anonymisation to the data provided is made.

Not available

Not available.

ESAW methodology is applied.

Metadata is provided in every news release published locally.

In addition metadata is also supplied to Eurostat.

Not available

Quality considerations play a central role with regard to Eurostat corporate management as well in the day-to-day statistical operations.

The European Statistics Code of Practice (http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-manuals-and-guidelines/-/KS-32-11-955) sets the standard for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics (see http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/quality/overview for more information). It builds upon a common European Statistical System (ESS).

The Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF; see http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/64157/4392716/qaf_2012-en.pdf/8bcff303-68da-43d9-aa7d-325a5bf7fb42) identifies possible activities, methods and tools that can provide guidance and evidence for the implementation of the Code of Practice when developing, producing and disseminating European statistics.

Eurostat organises about each year a Working Group on European Statistics on Accidents at Work, in which statistics and its metadata are presented. In particular, various quality issues such as data coverage and reporting levels are discussed and related improvements are discussed.

Data validation measures are desribed in concept 3.4 data validation.

In general, Eurostat aims to continuously improve the quality of ESAW data together with Member States.

ESAW is an administrative data collection which provides information on accidents at work as they are reported by employers in Member States to relevant national state authorities.

The type of data transmitted to Eurostat as well as its timing and other aspects follow strict rules (see section 6. 'Institutional mandate'). Eurostat together with Member States systematically check and validate data transmissions according to the following legal acts and further guidelines:

Member States fulfill their obligations in relation to these legal acts and guidelines. This includes all classification systems. Exceptions are mentioned in the other concepts of this file (including 19. Comments).

However, the data sources in Member States are to some degree heterogenous. For example, in some Member States accidents are reported in the framework of accident insurances whereas in other Member States universal social security system apply in case of accidents. This issue is covered in section 6. on Accuracy and relibaility of this file.

A particular challenge of ESAW data are the issues of (i) under-reporting of non-fatal accidents in some Member States, (ii) differences in the coverage of self-employed, family workers and other non-employee workers (voluntary data), and (iii) accuracy of reference populations (number of employed persons in economic sectors) and incidence rates (reference populations are the denominators of incidence rates). These issues are currently worked on but are not likely to be solved completely in the short term.

According to the ESAW implementing Regulation No 349/2011, only three out of nine phase III variables need to be reported to Eurostat. Although many Member States report on more than three phase III variables, the average coverage of phase III variables accross all Member States and all variables is currently about 50% only.

At a national level there has never been a user survey concerning this domain.

Not available.

All variables requested are provided.

All variables pertaining to Phase 1 and 2 are covered by the national data collection. In terms of Phase 3, three variables are available and disseminated at EU level.

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")

Explanation: Please fill in every cell with information, either "N" for sector not covered by the data collection, "UNK" for sectors covered but unknown reporting level, or a percentage value for sectors covered for which the reporting level is known (such as "52%"). Instead of "medium" or "high" please fill in a approximate value and flag it with "(e)" at the end, such as "50% (e)". Please fill in both, the global reporting cells and the detailed rows for individual sectors. If for example no sector is covered for your country, then fill into every cell "0", if all sectors are covered but all reporting levels are unknown fill in "UNK" in every cell. "N/A" should be replaced by either "N" or "UNK".

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

There is no sampling involved in the national ESAW data collection.

Hence the issue of sampling error is not relevant.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Information about the coverage of variables, economic sectors, employment types and occupations can be found in the metadata annex to this file.

Not available.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not available.

Not applicable.

Data is normally passed to NSI in the first week following the reference period.

At a national level this information is disseminated usually from 3 to 5 weeks after the last day of the reference period.

3 to 5 weeks

Data for year t is finalised by the second quarter of the following year. 

Data is transmitted within the deadline

At a national level information is delivered 100% on time whilst a revision of yearly results to the corresponding past year is published in Q1 of every year.

Such revisions to results are necessary given that some benefit claims submissions to the Department of Social Security are late.

Deadlines are always met for dissemination.

All data is comparable.

Not applicable

Data is comparable from 2008 onwards

Data is comparable from 2008 onwards

Cross domain comparability is not possible since despite the fact that the national LFS has informtion on accidents at work through ad hoc modules, the results from this survey tend to be based on very low sample counts.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Data is coherent from 2008 onwards.

Not Available.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Data is collected via claim forms filled in by claimants for injury benefits.

Fatalities data is collected by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority compiled via incident reports.

Continuous

Data is collected via claim forms filled in by claimants for injury benefits and then sent to NSI via excel sheet.

Fatalities data is sent to the NSI via an excel sheet from the Occupational Health and Safety Authority.

Statistics are compared to previous levels.

Consistency checks concerning the economic activity and other variables are also carried out.

In addition, through the use of descriptive text provided with the coded variables, checks on the assignment of codes can be made.

Not available

59.4% of NACE codes have been imputed

Not available

Not applicable.