Accidents at work - statistics on causes and circumstances
Data extracted in October 2023.
Planned update: 31 October 2024.
Highlights
During 2021, 3 in 10 (31.2 %) non-fatal accidents at work in the EU took place on industrial sites.
During 2021, more than one-quarter (25.7 %) of fatal accidents at work in the EU resulted from losing control of a machine, tool or transport/handling equipment.
During 2021, the most common types of non-fatal accidents at work in the EU resulted from physical or mental stress (23.7 %) or impact with a stationary object (22.7 %).
Fatal accidents at work within the construction sector – share from impact with a stationary object (victim in motion), 2021
This article presents a set of main statistical findings in relation to indicators concerning non-fatal and fatal accidents at work in the European Union (EU); the statistics presented have been collected as part of the European statistics on accidents at work (ESAW) administrative data collection exercise. The particular focus of this article is an analysis of these statistics according to the worker's location at the time of the accident, the type of working process and physical activity being undertaken at the time of the accident, and the cause of the accident. The data are presented for the total economy (all activities) and for five selected NACE sections: agriculture, forestry and fishing (NACE Section A), manufacturing (Section C), construction (Section F), distributive trades (Section G), transportation and storage (Section H).
Full article
Underestimates because of incomplete information
It should be noted that for many of the analyses presented in this article there is a heading for no information. While all EU Member States provided information for the total number of fatal and non-fatal accidents at work with an analysis by economic activity (NACE), not all of them provided data according to the other analyses presented in this article. The accidents for Member States that did not provide data for a particular analysis are included within the no information heading. In this way, the total number of accidents remains correct for individual Member States as well as for the EU as a whole. For several of the analyses, notably by workstation (location), by working process and by specific physical activity, the proportion of accidents within the EU for which no information is available is relatively high. As such, when analysing the EU data, the number of accidents for the various categories that are specified (and the share of these categories in the total) should be regarded as a lower limit: these numbers (and shares) are likely to be under-estimates.
When combining several classifications, fatal accidents at work can be rare events
The absolute number of fatal accidents at work can be relatively small when looking at detailed data. This is the case, for example, when focusing on particular economic activities for individual EU Member States (especially for the smaller ones) and/or when crossed with the various other classifications used in this article. An example can be seen in the final figure of this article (Figure 8), where it is shown that all fatal accidents at work in the construction sector in Cyprus resulted from an impact with a stationary object. However, there were only two fatal accidents at work in the Cypriot construction sector in the latest year for which data are available. As such, particularly high shares may reflect rare events, rather than a more general concentration of accidents in a combination of the categories studied.
Workstation accidents
Non-fatal accidents
In 2021, more than half (55.6 %) of the 2.9 million non-fatal accidents that took place at work in the EU occurred when a person was at their usual workstation or within the usual local unit of work (see Table 1). These accidents relate to fixed workstations in a workshop, shop, office and more generally, premises of the local unit of the employer. Just under one-fifth of the total (19.3 %) took place at an occasional or mobile workstation or during a journey made on behalf of an employer (these statistics exclude trips made to/from work). Examples of employees with mobile workstations include lorry drivers, construction workers or refuse collectors. Examples of employees with occasional workstations include people making occasional journeys on behalf of their employer, people making specific interventions for their employer outside their usual local unit (for example, on the premises of a client for a meeting, or to install or repair something). A relatively small share (1.9 %) of all non-fatal accidents at work took place in other locations/workstations. Note that information on the location of accidents at work was not available for almost one-quarter (23.2 %) of all non-fatal accidents at work in the EU in 2021.
In 2021, the likelihood of a non-fatal accident at work taking place in the EU at a person's usual workstation was higher for people working in distributive trades (73.0 % of all non-fatal accidents at work) and manufacturing (69.0 %). As might be expected given the nature of the work, for people working in construction (48.1 % of all non-fatal accidents at work in construction) or in transportation and storage (38.1 %), accidents at an occasional or mobile workstation or during a journey on behalf of their employer were considerably more likely than for the other activities shown in Table 1. The share of non-fatal accidents at work which took place in other workstations did not rise above 1.1 % for most of the NACE sections presented, the only exception being agriculture, forestry and fishing (11.4 %).
![Table showing the number of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work by workstation and economic activity in the EU for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/b/b6/Non-fatal_and_fatal_accidents_at_work_by_workstation_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_AAW2023.png/800px-Non-fatal_and_fatal_accidents_at_work_by_workstation_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_AAW2023.png)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_01)
Figure 1 presents a similar analysis to that shown in Table 1 but with information presented by sex. In the EU, among people who had experienced a non-fatal accident at work in 2021 this was more likely to have occurred at their usual workstation or within the usual local unit of work for women than it was for men. For all activities together, this location accounted for 65.3 % of all non-fatal accidents at work among women whereas among men the share was 51.1 %. A similar pattern was observed for construction (37.0 % for women and 28.7 % for men), distributive trades (77.8 % for women and 70.5 % for men), transportation and storage (45.2 % for women and 37.9 % for men) and manufacturing (72.9 % for women and 68.2 % for men). A slightly larger proportion of non-fatal accidents at work among men (28.6 %) rather than women (27.0 %) occurred at their usual workstation or within the usual local unit of work within agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Some of these gender differences may be linked to structural differences in the occupations that are carried out by men and women within an economic activity. For example, in construction a higher proportion of men (48.3 %) than women (37.3 %) experienced a non-fatal accident at work in occasional or mobile workstations or during a journey made on behalf of an employer, suggesting that men in the EU were more likely to work on external construction sites or to drive vehicles and that women were more likely to work in administrative or supporting roles within the local unit of work.
![Horizontal queued bar chart showing percentage non-fatal accidents at work by workstation, sex and economic activity in the EU. Totalling 100 percent, each of the 12 bars for men and women in six economic activities has four queues representing usual workstation, occasional workstation, other workstation and no information for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/a/a6/Non-fatal_accidents_at_work_by_workstation%2C_sex_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Non-fatal_accidents_at_work_by_workstation%2C_sex_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_01)
Fatal accidents
In 2021, there were 3 347 fatal accidents at work in the EU. Among the fatal accidents at work for which the location of the accident was specified, the vast majority either took place in occasional or mobile workstations or during a journey made on behalf of an employer (41.8 % of the total) or in the usual workstation or local work unit (31.8 %). As with non-fatal accidents at work, a relatively small share (2.7 %) of fatal accidents at work took place at other workstations. For nearly one-quarter (23.7 %) of fatal accidents at work, there was no information available for the location of the accident.
Across the EU, fatal accidents at work were, in 2021, more likely than average to occur in occasional or mobile workstations or during a journey made on behalf of an employer within transportation and storage (60.8 %) and construction (52.5 %). Fatal accidents at work within manufacturing and distributive trades were most common in the usual workstation or local work unit, 47.7 % and 45.1 %, respectively. Within agriculture, forestry and fishing, 7.3 % of fatal accidents at work took place at other workstations, by far the highest share among the economic activities shown in Table 1.
Working environment
Non-fatal accidents
The analysis of accidents at work presented in Table 2 provides information concerning the type of working environment where accidents took place. In 2021, the highest share of non-fatal accidents at work in the EU occurred at industrial sites (31.2 %), followed by tertiary sites (15.4 %) such as offices. Two other working environments accounted for close to one-tenth of all non-fatal accidents at work: construction sites, opencast quarries or mines (10.1 %) and public areas (9.5 %). As might be expected, non-fatal accidents at work for certain activities were concentrated in particular working environments, such as industrial sites for manufacturing (76.8 % of the total for this activity), construction sites, opencast quarries or mines within construction (59.4 %) and farming, fish farming or forest zones for agriculture, forestry and fishing (72.2 %).
![Table showing the number of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work by working environment and economic activity in the EU for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/5/5f/Non-fatal_and_fatal_accidents_at_work_by_working_environment_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_AAW2023.png/800px-Non-fatal_and_fatal_accidents_at_work_by_working_environment_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_AAW2023.png)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_02)
Figure 2 provides a similar analysis for non-fatal accidents at work in the EU, with additional information by age. It shows that in 2021 a higher proportion of accidents at work involving young persons (defined here as those aged less than 25 years) were on industrial sites, or on construction sites, opencast quarries or mines. By contrast, among older persons (defined here as those aged 55 years and over) non-fatal accidents at work were more likely (than for younger workers) to occur at tertiary sites, in public areas, or in farming, fish farming or forest zones. These figures are influenced, at least to some degree, by the relative size of each age group within the total workforce for different activities: for example, a relatively small number of older persons work in the construction sector.
![Horizontal queued bar chart showing percentage non-fatal accidents at work by working environment, age and economic activity in the EU. Totalling 100 percent, each of the 18 bars of three age groups in six economic activities has six queues representing industrial site, tertiary, construction site, quarry or mine, faming and other for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/3/32/Non-fatal_accidents_at_work_by_working_environment%2C_age_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Non-fatal_accidents_at_work_by_working_environment%2C_age_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_02)
Fatal accidents
Turning to fatal accidents at work, the highest share in 2021 across the EU took place in public areas (24.9 %), followed by industrial sites (20.2 %), construction sites, opencast quarries or mines (16.5 %) and farming, fish farming and forest zones (9.0 %). Looking at the selected NACE sections, the proportion of fatal accidents at work that took place in public areas was higher than the share of non-fatal accidents at work in public areas for each of the five activities shown in Table 2. A particularly high share of fatal accidents at work within transportation and storage took place in public areas (62.2 %). By contrast, compared with non-fatal accidents at work, the share of fatal accidents at work was particularly low at tertiary sites (6.5 % compared with 15.4 % for non-fatal accidents at work) and at industrial sites (20.2 % compared with 31.2 %).
Working process accidents
The information presented in Table 3 is related to the main type of work performed by the victims of accidents. In 2021, the most common working processes when a non-fatal accident at work took place in the EU included production, manufacturing, processing or storing (11.6 % of all non-fatal accidents at work) and the provision of services to enterprises and/or the general public, including intellectual activities (8.0 %). Note that for more than two-thirds (70.0 %) of non-fatal accidents at work in the EU, information on the working process was not available or was from a minor category (these two categories are combined in Table 3).
As may be expected, during 2021 certain working processes were more common as causes of non-fatal accidents at work in particular activities. For example:
- within agriculture, forestry and fishing, there was a relatively high proportion of non-fatal accidents at work in the EU that were linked to agricultural work, forestry, horticulture, fish farming or work with live animals (35.6 % of non-fatal accidents at work in this sector);
- within manufacturing, 28.3 % of non-fatal accidents at work occurred while involved in production, manufacturing, processing or storing;
- within construction, 18.9 % of non-fatal accidents at work were linked to excavation, construction, repair or demolition work;
- within transportation and storage, 11.0 % of non-fatal accidents at work were related to movement, sport or an artistic activity.
These four combinations of economic activities and working processes also recorded the highest numbers of fatal accidents at work in the EU, ranging from 107 deaths in manufacturing related to production, manufacturing, processing or storing up to 219 deaths in construction related to excavation, construction, repair and demolition.
![Table showing the number of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work by working process and economic activity in the EU for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/2/22/Non-fatal_and_fatal_accidents_at_work_by_working_process_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_AAW2023.png/800px-Non-fatal_and_fatal_accidents_at_work_by_working_process_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_AAW2023.png)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_03)
Specific physical activity
Data relating to accidents at work by specific physical activity concern what the victim was doing at the exact time of an accident in contrast to the information by working process (as shown above) which describes the main task being performed over a more substantial period. Almost one-fifth (18.2 %) of the non-fatal accidents at work that took place in the EU in 2021 could be associated with the physical activity of movement (see Figure 3), while around one-tenth were linked to the handling of objects (11.1 %) as well as to carrying something by hand (9.0 %).
The situation was somewhat different concerning fatal accidents at work in the EU, insofar as the largest share of all fatal accidents at work in 2021 took place while people were driving or on board transport or handling equipment (17.2 %), although the next highest share was associated with movement (16.1 %).
![Horizontal queued bar chart showing percentage accidents at work by specific physical activity and economic activity in the EU. Totalling 100 percent, each of the 12 bars for non-fatal and fatal accidents in six economic activities has eight queues representing movement, handling of objects, carrying by hand, working with hand-held tools, driving transport, presence, operating machine and other for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/4/46/Accidents_at_work_by_specific_physical_activity_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Accidents_at_work_by_specific_physical_activity_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_04)
Having identified that the highest share of fatal accidents at work in 2021 was linked to the specific physical activity of driving or being on board transport or handling equipment, Figure 4 shows more detailed information for this specific physical activity solely for the transportation and storage sector. Across the EU, some 9.5 % of all non-fatal accidents at work in the transportation and storage sector could be attributed to driving or being on board transport or handling equipment. More than one-quarter of non-fatal accidents at work in the Romanian, Dutch, Slovenian and Bulgarian transportation and storage sectors in 2021 were linked to driving or being on board transport or handling equipment; shares of at least one in five were also recorded in Latvia, Croatia and Spain. By contrast, in Luxembourg less than 1 in 10 non-fatal accidents at work in the transportation and storage sector resulted from driving or being on board transport or handling equipment, while in Lithuania there were no non-fatal accidents at work in this sector from this activity.
Figure 4 also shows that there were 10 EU Member States (among those for which data are available) where at least half of all fatal accidents at work within the transportation and storage sector in 2021 could be attributed to the specific physical activity of driving or being on board transport or handling equipment; among these, in Portugal and Luxembourg all fatal accidents at work in this sector resulted from this activity. Six Member States reported shares of at least one-quarter but less than half, while Finland and Lithuania recorded no fatal accidents at work within the transportation and storage sector attributed to driving or being on board transport or handling equipment.
![Vertical bar chart showing percentage share from driving/being on board a means of transport or handling equipment accidents at work within the transportation and storage sector in the EU, individual EU Member States, Iceland and Switzerland. Each country has two columns representing non-fatal accidents and fatal accidents for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/5/53/Accidents_at_work_within_the_transportation_and_storage_sector_%E2%80%93_share_from_driving_being_on_board_a_means_of_transport_or_handling_equipment%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Accidents_at_work_within_the_transportation_and_storage_sector_%E2%80%93_share_from_driving_being_on_board_a_means_of_transport_or_handling_equipment%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_04)
Cause of accident
The cause of an accident is defined in terms of the last event differing from the norm that resulted in an accident. In 2021, the most common causes that triggered non-fatal accidents at work in the EU included losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment (21.2 % of the total), body movement under or with physical stress (19.2 %), and slipping, stumbling or falling (19.1 %). The share of non-fatal accidents at work in the EU in 2021 for which no information on the cause is available was relatively small (12.8 %).
Losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment was also the most common cause of fatal accidents at work, accounting for 25.7 % of the total number of workplace deaths in the EU in 2021, while slipping, stumbling or falling (14.4 %), and breakage, bursting or collapse of material agents (12.0 %) were the only other causes that accounted for double-digit shares of the total number of such accidents. The share of fatal accidents at work in the EU in 2021 for which no information on the cause is available was close to one-fifth (19.0 %).
![Horizontal queued bar chart showing percentage accidents at work by cause and economic activity in the EU. Totalling 100 percent, each of the 12 bars for non-fatal and fatal accidents in six economic activities has ten queues representing lost control, body movement, slipping, stumbling, falling, breakage, shock fright, overflow leak, electrical problem, other deviations and no information for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/c/cb/Accidents_at_work_by_cause_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Accidents_at_work_by_cause_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_06)
Having identified that the highest number of non-fatal and fatal accidents at work in 2021 were caused by losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment, Figure 6 shows more detailed information for this cause of accidents within the distributive trades sector. Some 27.0 % of all non-fatal accidents at work in the EU's distributive trades sector in 2021 could be attributed to losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment; the share was the same for fatal accidents at work (also 27.0 %).
An analysis of the 2021 data for the EU Member States reveals that more than two-fifths of all non-fatal accidents at work in the distributive trades sectors of Cyprus, Germany, Latvia, Austria and Slovenia were caused by losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment. A similar analysis reveals that all fatal accidents at work in the Swedish distributive trades sector could be attributed to losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment, while the share was at least half in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Ireland. A total of 11 Member States reported no fatal accidents at work in the distributive trades sector that could be attributed to losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment.
![Vertical bar chart showing percentage share from losing control of machines, tools or transport and handling equipment accidents at work within the distributive trades sector in the EU, individual EU Member States, Iceland and Switzerland. Each country has two columns representing non-fatal accidents and fatal accidents for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/d/dc/Accidents_at_work_within_the_distributive_trades_sector_%E2%80%93_share_from_losing_control_of_machines%2C_tools%2C_or_transport_and_handling_equipment%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Accidents_at_work_within_the_distributive_trades_sector_%E2%80%93_share_from_losing_control_of_machines%2C_tools%2C_or_transport_and_handling_equipment%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_06)
Contact mode of injury
Data on accidents at work by contact mode of injury relate to how the victim of an accident was hurt by the material agent that caused their injury. If there are several modes of injury identified, then the one causing the most serious injury should be recorded.
In 2021, the most common contact modes for non-fatal accidents at work across the EU included: physical or mental stress (23.7 % of all non-fatal accidents at work); impact with a stationary object (in other words, the victim was in motion; 22.7 %); contact with a sharp/pointed or rough/coarse agent (14.2 %); and being struck by an object in motion/a collision (12.0 %). Note that there was no contact or no information on the contact mode for 11.2 % of non-fatal accidents at work. A similar analysis for fatal accidents at work reveals that the most common contact mode of injury was being struck by an object in motion/a collision (23.0 % of all fatal accidents at work in the EU), followed by impact with a stationary object (19.3 %), being trapped or crushed (13.0 %), and electrical voltage, temperature or hazardous substances (9.2 %). For 15.2 % of fatal accidents at work there was no contact or information on the contact mode is not available.
Within the transportation and storage sector, being struck by an object in motion accounted for more than one-third (35.6 %) of all fatal accidents at work in the EU in 2021, while nearly one-quarter of fatal accidents at work within distributive trades (23.6 %) were attributed to the same mode. By contrast, within the construction sector the most common mode of injury in a fatal accident at work was the impact of a moving victim with a stationary object, which accounted for approximately one-quarter (24.0 %) of all non-fatal accidents at work and close to one-third (33.7 %) of all fatal accidents at work in this sector.
![Horizontal queued bar chart showing percentage accidents at work by contact mode of injury and economic activity in the EU. Totalling 100 percent, each of the 12 bars for non-fatal and fatal accidents in six economic activities has ten queues representing physical or mental stress, impact with a stationary object, contact with sharp rough agent, trapped, crushed, electrical voltage, temperature, hazardous substances, animal or human bite or kick, drowned, buried, enveloped, other forms of contact and no contact or information for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/d/db/Accidents_at_work_by_contact_mode_of_injury_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Accidents_at_work_by_contact_mode_of_injury_and_economic_activity%2C_EU%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_08)
This information is developed further in Figure 8 which presents a more detailed analysis of accidents in the construction sector resulting from an impact with a stationary object. This contact mode of injury accounted for more than half of all non-fatal accidents at work in the construction sectors of Greece (52.7 %) and the Netherlands (51.3 %) in 2021, whereas the share was lowest in France (14.8 %).
A similar analysis reveals that all (100.0 %) fatal accidents at work in the Cypriot construction sector could be attributed to impact with a stationary object, as could at least two-thirds in the Irish and Maltese construction sectors and at least half of all fatal accidents at work in the construction sectors of seven other EU Member States. No such fatal accidents at work were reported from this mode of contact in 2021 in the construction sectors of Estonia, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden. Note that for relatively small EU Member States, the absolute number of fatal accidents at work in this sector may be very small.
![Vertical bar chart showing percentage share from impact with a stationary object (victim in motion) accidents at work within the construction sector in the EU, individual EU Member States, Iceland and Switzerland. Each country has two columns representing non-fatal accidents and fatal accidents for the year 2021.](/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/thumb/b/b1/Accidents_at_work_within_the_construction_sector_%E2%80%93_share_from_impact_with_a_stationary_object_%28victim_in_motion%29%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png/800px-Accidents_at_work_within_the_construction_sector_%E2%80%93_share_from_impact_with_a_stationary_object_%28victim_in_motion%29%2C_2021_%28%25%29_AAW2023.png)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (hsw_ph3_08)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
In December 2008, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 on Community statistics on public health and health and safety at work. The Regulation is designed to ensure that health statistics provide adequate information for all EU Member States to monitor Community actions in the field of public health and health and safety at work. In April 2011, a European Commission Regulation (EU) No 349/2011 on statistics on accidents at work was adopted specifying in detail the variables, breakdowns and metadata that Member States are required to deliver – this legislation is being implemented in a number of phases. Note also that a Commission Decision No 2011/231/EU from April 2011 granted derogations to certain Member States with respect to the transmission of statistics on accidents at work.
European statistics on accidents at work (ESAW) is the main data source for EU statistics relating to health and safety at work issues. ESAW includes data on occupational accidents that result in at least four calendar days of absence from work, including fatal accidents. The phrase 'during the course of work' means while engaged in an occupational activity or during the time spent at work. This generally includes cases of traffic accidents (road or other means of transport) for journeys that are made during the course of work but excludes accidents that take place during a journey between home and the workplace.
There are nine variables related to causes and circumstances of accidents at work within the ESAW data collection. According to the ESAW Regulation, countries are free to choose at least three out of these nine variables on causes and circumstances and should report data for these (they may provide information on more than three variables if they choose to do so). As such, while the total coverage of the EU is complete for each individual variable, the proportion of information that is not specified (included within the heading no information in tables and figures in this article) can vary greatly depending on how many and which EU Member States have provided detailed information. The complete list of nine variables covers: workstation, working environment, working process, specific physical activity, material agent associated with the specific physical activity, deviation, material agent associated with the deviation, contact – mode of injury, material agent associated with the contact – mode of injury.
An accident at work is defined in ESAW methodology as a discrete occurrence during the course of work which leads to physical or mental harm. Fatal accidents at work are those that lead to the death of the victim within one year of the accident taking place. Non-fatal accidents at work are defined as those that imply at least four full calendar days of absence from work (they are sometimes also called 'serious accidents at work'). Non-fatal accidents at work often involve considerable harm for the workers concerned and their families and they have the potential to force people, for example, to live with a permanent disability, to leave the labour market, or to change job. Indeed, they may result in a considerable number of working days being lost within the EU's economy.
The statistics presented for accidents at work refer to declarations made to either public (social security administrations) or private insurance schemes, or to other relevant national authorities (for example, those controlling labour or workplace inspections). Indicators on accidents at work may be presented as absolute values, as percentage distributions, as incidence rates in relation to every 100 000 persons employed (the denominator being provided by the authorities in the EU Member States that are responsible for ESAW data collection or by the EU's labour force survey (LFS)) or as standardised incidence rates.
For more information on ESAW data please refer to the main article on accidents at work statistics.
Context
A safe, healthy working environment is a crucial factor in an individual's quality of life and is also a collective interest. EU Member State governments recognise the social and economic benefits of better health and safety at work. Reliable, comparable, up-to-date statistical information is vital for setting policy objectives and adopting suitable policy measures and preventing actions.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventive measures were put in place with the aim of limiting the spread of the Coronavirus and to combat the pandemic. Among these, some economic activities were either completely stopped or restricted by many governments or employers. In some cases, working remotely or from home became more common. This had a direct impact on all economic sectors. For the economic sectors where the activity was stopped or reduced, the number of accidents decreased. Inactivity or reduced activity in certain sectors resulted in a lower number of workers and/or hours worked, and therefore showed an unusual decrease in reported accidents at work. By contrast, in some sectors the COVID-19 pandemic generated an increase in activity. For example, this was the case for human health activities, residential care activities or social work activities without accommodation. Therefore, the increased activity resulted in generally higher numbers of reported accidents at work, especially when the cases of COVID-19 of occupational origin were included depending on national practice and legislation.
Public services that deal with receipt of notifications, as well as the reporting, investigation and recognition of accidents at work may have functioned with limited capacities during parts of the crisis.
The combined impact of the issues described above led to a decrease in the reported number of accidents at work in the data collection for the reference year 2020 compared with the previous year for the majority of reporting countries. In 2021, the number of accidents rebounded but remained below the level of 2019.
For more information on health and safety at work policy, please refer to the main article on accidents at work statistics.
Direct access to
- Health, see:
- Health and safety at work (hsw)
- Accidents at work (ESAW, 2008 onwards) (hsw_acc_work)
- Causes and circumstances of accidents at work (ESAW Phase III) (hsw_ph3)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and workstation (hsw_ph3_01)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and working environment (hsw_ph3_02)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and working process (hsw_ph3_03)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and specific physical activity (hsw_ph3_04)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and material agent of specific physical activity (hsw_ph3_05)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and deviation (hsw_ph3_06)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and material agent of deviation (hsw_ph3_07)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and contact mode of injury (hsw_ph3_08)
- Accidents at work by sex, age, severity, NACE Rev. 2 activity and material agent of contact mode injury (hsw_ph3_09)
- Causes and circumstances of accidents at work (ESAW Phase III) (hsw_ph3)
- Accidents at work (ESAW, 2008 onwards) (hsw_acc_work)
ESMS metadata file
- Accidents at work (ESAW, 2008 onwards) (ESMS metadata file – hsw_acc_work_esms)
Publication
- European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, see:
- European Commission – Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – Health and safety at work
- European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND) – Health and well-being at work
- International Labour Organisation (ILO) – Safety and health at work