Work-place accidents down by 30% in 2020, construction sector with highest share of accidents

The number of work-place accidents in the first six months of 2020 has gone down by some 30%, statistics released by the National Statistics Office showed on Friday.

A total of 1,108 people were reported as being involved in non-fatal accidents at work between January and June of 2020, down from 1,579 in the same period in 2019.

Three fatal accidents were reported at work in the first half of 2020, the NSO said.

The NSO said that the largest share of the non-fatal accidents occurred in the construction sector, where 185 accidents – equivalent to 16.7% of the total – occurred.

The percentage is 2.6% more than what was reported in the corresponding period in 2019, although back then more accidents were reported – 223 in total.

Another 171 or 15.4% of the accidents occurred in the manufacturing sector followed by the transportation and storage sector (153 or 13.8%), the NSO said.

The largest share of accidents at work during the reference period involved persons working in elementary occupations followed by workers in the craft and related trades.

Almost half (44.4%) of the injuries at work affected the upper extremities of the body, such as the fingers and hands.  A further 27.3% of the injuries affected the lower extremities of the body, while 11% affected the head.  A further 7.5% of the injuries affected the back.

Wounds and superficial injuries, and dislocations, sprains and strains were the most common types of injuries, amounting to 674 and 258 cases respectively. 126 instances of bone fractures were also reported.

The age distribution of those injured is fairly evenly spread: the highest share is found in the 35 to 44 years of age bracket at 25.5%, followed by the 25 to 34 years of age bracket at 23.9%, then 45 to 54 years of age bracket at 22.9%, and the 55+ age bracket at 20.8%.

The only outlier is that 15 to 24 years of age bracket, which had the remaining 6.9% of the workplace accident share.