Statistics Netherlands

Socio-economic and spatial statistics

CBS
Postbus 24500; 2490 HA Den Haag, The Netherlands

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. European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) - Summary methodology - 2013 edition is the last version available.

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).

Data on non-fatal accidents at work are collected by the National Working Conditions Survey (NWCS). 

Data on fatal accidents at work are collected through the cause of death registration and estimated based on data on non-fatal accidents when not available from the cause of death registration.

Eurostat website has a structure that includes four folders with accidents at work data. 

Folder 1. Accidents at work (ESAW, 2008 onwards) contains the most recent data. This folder has other three sections: 'Main Indicators', 'Details by economic sector (NACE Rev2, 2008 onwards) and 'Causes and circumstances of accidents at work'.

Depending on the table, data are broken down by: economic activity (NACE 'main sectors' (1 digit code) or more detailed NACE divisions (2 digit codes)); the occupation of the victim (ISCO-08 code); country; severity of the accident, sex, age, employment status, size of the enterprise, body part injured and type of injury. The unit of measure depends also on the table. The following units of measure are available: numbers, percentages, incidence rates and standardised incidence rates of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work.

Folder 2. Accidents at work (ESAW) – until 2007 contains back data covering the reference period 1993-2007, these data refer to the version 1.1 of the NACE classification (NACE Rev.1.1.).

Folder 3. Accidents at work and other work-related health problems (source LFS) – present the results of the LFS ad-hoc modules dedicated for health and safety, that are comparable, for the reference years when they have been conducted namely 2007, 2013 and 2020. They are presented in the form of tables that refer to accidents at work; work-related health problems and exposure to risk factors for physical and mental well-being.

Folder 4. Work related health problems and accidental injuries – LFS 1999 presents data collected with the LFS ad-hoc module dedicated to health and safety at work 1999. These are historical data, the comparability of the results with the waves 2007, 2013 and 2020 is limited, for this reason the results are presented separately.

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).

All economic sectors 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. However, these sectors were covered on a voluntary basis.

Data delivery for sectors T and U is voluntary. Coverage of all sectors means that all sectors are included and properly weighted in the total. It does not mean that reliable estimates are possible for all sectors nor for all 2 digit NACE codes.

Some sectors and professions are subject to confidentiality rules. According to the ESAW implementing Regulation 349/2011 (Annex II).

COVERAGE OF ECONOMIC SECTORS (NACE)

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;
  • Accidents, purely private;
  • Accidents to members of the public, even if such an accident is due to a work activity within a company.

A fatal accident at work is defined as an accident that leads to the death of a victim within one year of the accident. In practice the notification of an accident as fatal ranges from national registration procedures where the accident is registered as fatal. 

Phase I and II variables

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:

• Case number
• Economic activity of the employer (NACE)
• Occupation of Victim (ISCO)
• Age of Victim
• Sex of Victim
• Type of Injury
• Part of Body Injured
• Geographical Location of the Accident
• Date of the Accident
• Time of the Accident (optional)
• Size of the Enterprise (optional)
• Nationality of the Victim (optional)
• Employment Status of the Victim
• Days Lost (severity)
• Weight ESAW collection

Phase III variables

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:

• Workstation
• Working Environment
• Working Process
• Specific Physical Activity
• Material Agent of the Specific Physical Activity
• Deviation
• Material Agent associated with the Deviation
• Contact and mode of injury
• Material Agent associated with the Contact - Mode of injury.

Not all the EU Member States report the same three variables.

In the reference years 2010-2013 the Netherlands have a derogation for the following phase I and II variables: ‘occupation’, ‘type of injury’, ‘part of body injured’, ‘date of the accident’, ‘days lost’ and all phase III variables on causes and circumstance. These variables were not or only partly provided.

From reference year 2014 onwards the variabes were provided. The data of the Netherlands show a strong decrease between reference years 2013 and 2014, which is a result of methodological changes.

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. 

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

COVERAGE OF ESAW VARIABLES

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

Accidents at work of employees.

Exception: in the reference years 2010-2013 the unit for non-fatal accidents are employees with an accident, because data was collected for the most recent accident in the reference year in case of multiple accidents per employee. 

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 (i.e. self-employed, family workers, etc.) are voluntary.

Some sectors and professions are subject to confidentiality rules. According to the ESAW implementing Regulation 349/2011 (Annex II). Member States deliver the following NACE Rev. 2 divisions of sector O on a voluntary basis only:
84.22 Defence activities
84.23 Justice and judicial activities
84.24 Public order and safety activities
84.25 Fire services activities

In addition, some professions (occupations) are also subject to national confidentiality rules and delivered on a voluntary basis: 

- 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

A detailed overview about which Member State covers which economic sectors and employment types is available in the national metadata files published and can be accessed from the European metadata.

COVERAGE OF PROFESSIONAL STATUS 

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 are available for all EU-Member States and EFTA countries.

Nuts 3 is available. 

Data are available since reference year 1993 for all EU-15 Member States, from 1995 also for Norway.

From reference year 2008, data for all EU Member States (current composition of the EU as of 2020) and EU aggregate are available. Croatian data are included since 2010.

Data for Switzerland was added from 2004 and Icelandic data from 2012. United Kingdom data are available until the reference year 2018.

In the reference years 2010-2013 the Netherlands have a derogation for the following phase I and II variables: ‘occupation’, ‘type of injury’, ‘part of body injured’, ‘date of the accident’, ‘days lost’ and all phase III variables on causes and circumstance. These variables were not or only partly provided.

 From reference year 2014 onwards the variabes were provided. The data of the Netherlands show a strong decrease between reference years 2013 and 2014, which is a result of methodological changes.

Not applicable.

Accidents at work of employees.

Exception: in the reference years 2010-2013 the unit for non-fatal accidents are employees with an accident, because data was collected for the most recent accident in the reference year in case of multiple accidents per employee. 

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

- Standardised incidence rates: number of accidents per 100,000 workers adjusted for the relative sizes of economic sectors at EU level (see section 18.6 Adjustment for more details).

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

For fatal accidents the year of death is reported and not the year in which the accident took place.

The implementing Regulation under which Member States report ESAW data to Eurostat is Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work.

The afore mentioned Regulation 349/2011 implements the framework Regulation EC N° 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work.

Commission Decision 2011/231 of 11 April 2011 granted derogations to certain Member States with respect to the transmission of statistics pursuant to Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work.

The current strategy of the EU concerning health and safety at work is outlined in the following EU Commission Communication: Strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027.

The previous strategies can be consulted here:

The health and safety at work strategy of the EU from 2014 until 2020: EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020.

The health and safety at work strategy of the EU from 2007 until 2012: Community strategy 2007-2012 on health and safety at work.

The health and safety strategy of the EU from 2002 and 2006: Commission Communication COM (2002) 118 Final and Council resolution 2002/C 161/01 on a new Community strategy for safety and health at work 2002-2006.

Eurostat does not share the data with any other Organisation or Institution, however specific extractions can be made on request by users and other organisations.

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).

Wet op het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (EN: Law of Statistics Netherlands).

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.

At the national level, data rounding is applied, as well as cell suppression when respondents in reference category are less than 100. Confidence intervals are published.

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.

Part of the data at the national level is released at N+6 months.

Not available.

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.

Under certain conditions, Statistics Netherlands’ Centre for Policy Related Statistics (CvB) can make microdata (anonymous data at the level of individual persons and businesses) available for statistical research.

To use these data, the organisation they work for must be granted access by the director general of statistics.

In some cases approval by the Central Commission for Statistics (CCS) is also required.

Furthermore, a seperate application must be submitted for each project requiring access to microdata.

Annual.

See Eurostat website and Statistics Netherlands website for occasional news releases.

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 also website from Statistics Netherlands for occasional publications.

See Eurostat website.

Accidents at work in the Netherlands are also published yearly in the online database from Statistics Netherlands (StatLine):

http://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84031NED

http://opendata.cbs.nl/statline/#/CBS/nl/dataset/84030NED 

Not available.

Microdata on accidents at work is available for the cooperation partners of the Dutch Working Conditions Survey: Statistics Netherlands, TNO and ministery of Social affairs and Employment. 

Also, under certain conditions, Statistics Netherlands’ Centre for Policy Related Statistics (CvB) can make microdata (anonymous data at the level of individual persons and businesses) available for statistical research.

To use these data, the organisation they work for must be granted access by the director general of statistics.

In some cases approval by the Central Commission for Statistics (CCS) is also required.

Furthermore, a seperate application must be submitted for each project requiring access to microdata.

None.

Not available

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

Previous editions:

- Eurostat (2012): 'European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) - Summary methodology, 2012 edition', ISBN 978-92-79-23133-9, ISSN 1977-0375, doi:10.2785/2509, Cat. No KS-RA-12-002-EN-N.

- DG Employment and social affairs and Eurostat (2001): 'European statistics on accidents at work (ESAW) - Methodology - 2001 edition', Health and safety at work series, co-publication with Eurostat.

A description of the Dutch methodology is available from:

https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/onze-diensten/methoden/onderzoeksomschrijvingen/korte-onderzoeksbeschrijvingen/european-statistics-on-accidents-at-work--esaw--

All countries provide metadata

Quality reports are available with the national metadata.

A description of the Dutch methodology is available from:

https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/onze-diensten/methoden/onderzoeksomschrijvingen/korte-onderzoeksbeschrijvingen/european-statistics-on-accidents-at-work--esaw--

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 sets the standard for developing, producing and disseminating European statistics (see 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) 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.

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 the Member States following national practices.

The type of data transmitted to Eurostat as well as its timing and other aspects follow strict rules. Eurostat together with Member States systematically check and validate data transmissions according to the following legal acts and further guidelines:
- Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work (text with EEA relevance).
- Framework Regulation EC N° 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work.

ESAW summary methodology (version of 2013) defines further details of the data to be transmitted.

Member States fulfill their obligations in relation to these legal acts and guidelines. This includes all classification systems.
However, the data sources in Member States are to some degree heterogeneous. 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. 

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). Eurostat cooperates with the Member States in finding the best solutions to address these issues.

The ministery of Social affairs and employment uses part of the data, namely the accidents at work with one or more days sick leave.

Eurostat carries out regular user satisfaction surveys (see https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/about-us/policies/evaluation) including for statistical domains such as 'health'.

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.

The Commission Regulation N° 349/2011, of 11 April 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work, as regards statistics on accidents at work, describes the data transmission requirements.
Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) the list of variables set out in the Annex of this regulation. Member States shall provide data and metadata required by this Regulation.

Of the 15 phase I and II variables, all 12 mandatory variables are delivered (R =95%) and 2 optional variables (time of the accident is not delivered).

Of the 10 phase III variables, 3 are delivered with R = 100%. In addition, 2 phase II variables are partly covered.

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")

Characteristics of fatal-accidents are partly estimated based on survey data for severe non-fatal accidents. Non-fatal- accidents are based on survey data.

The data collection is an estimation, and should therefore be interpreted with caution.

However, with the use of weights a high level of accuracy can be achieved.

The dataset for fatal-accidents is mainly based on administrative sources.

The dataset for non-fatal accidents is mostly based on a survey; the national workings conditions survey.

Two variables are derived from adminstrative registers, being geographical location and nationality.

Weighting procedures are applied to correct for sampling errors.

Because of the weighting procedure that corrects for sampling error, no sampling error are calculated.

In this weighting procedure population totals are based on administrative sources. 

General information about under-reporting errors can be found in other sections of this file.

The sampling frame is set at March in the reference year, while the survey starts in October in the reference year.

Therefore, employees who started working between March and October are not in the sample.

And there might be respondents in the sample who are no longer employee.

These respondents are filtered out of the sample. 

Not availabe.

Not applicable.

There might be measurement errors due to the use of the questionnaire (see: https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/onze-diensten/methoden/onderzoeksomschrijvingen/korte-onderzoeksbeschrijvingen/nationale-enquete-arbeidsomstandigheden--nea--) and respondents who may, consciously or unconsciously, might give erroneous data.

- The weighted response rate on the survey data for non-fatal accidents was 31,3% in 2021.

- Measures to reduce non-response were: oversampling low-responding groups (like young employees and non-western immigrants); emphasis on guaranteed privacy; short and clear questionnaire; including an infomation leaflet with the questionnaire; possibility to contact a helpdesk; sending 3 reminders; rewarding (the chance of winning a gift card for 250 Euro).

-Of the respondents reporting an accident at work, 8,4% did not answer the question how many accidents at work they had had in the last year. In case of non response, this item was imputed.

- A weighting procedure was applied to reduce possible bias due to non-response. 

- The bias risks associated with non-repons are considered low.

The weighted response rate was 36,7% 2020.

The item with the highest item non response was the number of non-fatal accidents. 5,1% of the respondents with at least one accident at work in the last year, did not report the number of accidents. In case of non response, this item was imputed.

Not available.

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.

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 12 months after the end of the reference year (experience of previous years).

Approximately 12 months after the end of the reference year (experience of previous years).

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.

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.

Comparability is good as countries are using the same standards and definitions.

Data on fatal accidents have a high level of comparability between all countries. For the Netherlands, the data on fatal accidents are not from National Insurance or Labour Inspectorate. Instead, data on fatal accidents at work are collected through the cause of death registration and estimated based on data on non-fatal accidents when not available from the cause of death registration.

Data on non-fatal accidents are considered to be of limited comparability across certain groups of countries. See section 13 on 'accuracy' for further details, in particular concerning the existence of two different types of accident notification systems (insurance based and universal social security system based). For the Netherlands, data on non-fatal accidents are based on a survey.

Standardised incidence rates are calculated in order to enable comparison between countries (some countries have larger high-risk sectors in terms of work accidents, for example concerning certain occupations in transport, construction, manufacturing and agriculture; see section 18.6 Adjustment for more details).

Not applicable.

Data on the Eurostat website is divided between datasets with reference year up to 2007 (included), and datasets with reference year from 2008 onwards.

There is a break in series in 2020, when a new code has been created to capture occupational COVID-19 cases, where possible, not all countries having the same practice. Additionally, some countries have reported some other break in series that are described in their national reference metadata files, attached to this report.

For the Netherlands, there is a break between 2014 and earlier, because design and questionnaire were changed in that year to meet the ESAW methodology.

Therefore, the length of comparable ESAW time series is from 2014 - present reference year.

The last major break for ESAW data was between 2007 and 2008 including a change from NACE Rev.1 to NACE Rev. 2 and concerning the addition of the 13 new Member States which joined the EU in 2004, 2007 and 2013 respectively.

For the Netherlands, there is a break between 2014 and earlier, because design and questionnaire were changed in that year to meet the ESAW methodology.

Therefore, the length of comparable ESAW time series is from 2014 - present reference year.

ESAW data may be compared with relevant data from the Labour Force Survey ad-hoc modules on accidents at work and other work-related health problems available from the same main data tree branch 'Health and safety at work (hsw)'. However, this comparison should consider methodological differences, among which different definitions of accidents at work.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

There are some variables that are slightly different than requested from Eurostat (but are accepted with derogation) ISCO: Since 2011, occupation is measured with a different questions, which complies better with the definition of ISCO than previous years. INJ (up untill 2013): The following codes/labels are used: 000 unkonown; 001 physical harm 002 mental harm; 003 physical injury and mental harm. GEO: The variable GEO (up untill 2013) measures geographic location of the company, in stead of geographic location of the accident. SIZE (up untill 2013): The following codes/labels are used: 1 1-9 employees; 2 10-49 employee; 3 50-499 employees; 5 500 or more employees; 9 unknown. SEV (up untill 2013): The following codes/labels are used: 000 unknown; A01 4-6 days; A02 7-13 days; A03 14 days-1 month; A05 1 month-6 months; 997 more than 6 months; 998 fatal.

The major cost component is the excecution of the survey (the national workings conditions survey, NEA)).

This survey is financed by Statistics Netherlands, the ministery of Social Affairs and by TNO.

Overall the costs for Statistics Netherlands are approximately 550.000 Euro.

Not only are the data from the survey used to compose ESAW-data, also other infomation on working conditions is conducted.

Approximately 10-20% from the questions in the NEA is used for ESAW-delivery.

The burden for the respondent for the complete NEA is approximately 25-30 minutes of interviewing time.

ESAW data are occasionally revised, such as when a country notifies Eurostat about changes in the data, metadata and reference population.

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.

Not available.

The dataset for fatal-accidents is mainly based on administrative sources.The dataset for non-fatal accidents is mostly based on a survey; the national workings conditions survey.

The population size is approximately 7.000.000 employees.

The sample size is approximately 80.000 employees up untill 2013 and approximately 160.000 employees from 2014 onwards.

The respons is approximately 23.000 employees up untill 2013 and between 40.000 and 63.000 from 2014 onwards.

The number of respondents with a non fatal accident ranges between 400 and 600 from 2014 onwards.

The sampling design is a systematic 'probability proportional to size'- design.

All respondents in the sampling frame have the same selection probability, except young respondents (aged 15-23) and non-western immigrants. These respondents have a selection probability that is 1.5 time as big. 

From 2015 onwards, a selection of NACE sectors is oversampled as well.

Two variables are derived from adminstrative registers, being geographical location (up until 2013) and nationality.

Geographical location is derived from regional data and information on paychecks.

Nationality is derived from the general base administration.

Annual

The Netherlands uses a mixed mode design (postal and internet) up untill 2017 and internet only from 2018 onwards.
The questionnaire for the survey was tested on a small group of respondents. The duration to fill in the questionnaire is 25 to 30 minutes.

Respondents received a letter with the request to participate. Respondents were reminded three times (with a letter).

A link to the most recent questionnaire can be found here: https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/onze-diensten/methoden/onderzoeksomschrijvingen/korte-onderzoeksbeschrijvingen/nationale-enquete-arbeidsomstandigheden--nea--

The non-fatal accident data is validated with the following activities: 1) the postal questionaires are scanned, and randomly checked by hand for errors (up until 2017) 2) population coverage was checked 3) completeness of data file was checked 4) outlier detection 5) consistency checks 6) item non-respons check 7) the weighing was checked for background charachteristics and other breakdowns 8) data was compared with previous year.
Data for fatal accidents are also validated with the national deceased statistics.

For non-fatal-accidents, the Netherlands uses weights. Weighting of the respondents is done in two stages up untill 2013 and in three stages from 2014 onwards.

In the first stage all respondents are assigned an inclusion weight.

These inclusion weights are calculated in such a way that unequal inclusion probabilities that occur because of the sampling method are corrected. In the second stage final weights are determined. In this stage biasses because of non-respons are reduced.

For this, information on gender, age, ethnic background, level of education, branch of industry and some other regional classifications are used.

In the Netherlands, imputation is used for Phase III variables of non-fatal accidents if less than three Phase III variables are filled for a record.

See for more details: http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/23517D92-8023-4DC8-9250-6041F28E9C28/0/2014rapportnea2013.pdf.

The weighting procedure up untill 2013 results in a weight for employees, where each employee has a maximum of one accident at work per reference year. From 2014 onwards, an additional step is done in the weighting procedure, allowing multiple accidents per employee per reference year and resulting in a weight per accident.

For fatal accidents, the cases are weighted to the age and sex distribution of fatal accidents at work (AW), drawn from the population of severe (but non-fatal) AW. Consequently, the weights are less than 1.

Statistical matching is used for all items except SEX, AGE and EMPST.

For fatal accidents, statistical matching is used for all items except SEX, AGE and EMPST.

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.

Not applicable.