Statistics

They do not tell the whole story, but statistics are an essential part of any analysis of safety and health issues. They reveal, for example, the following ugly truths: • Every year 5,720 people die in the European Union as a consequence of work-related accidents, according to EUROSTAT figures. • Besides that, the International Labour Organisation estimates that an additional 159,500 workers in the EU die every year from occupational diseases. Taking both figures into consideration, it is estimated that every three-and-a-half minutes somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work collects occupational safety and health statistics and surveys from around the world.
 
The Agency’s statistical reports cover areas such as accidents at work, demographic trends and work-related diseases. The reports produced by the Agency’s European Risk Observatory analyse data sources at national and EU level and describe the implications of these figures for occupational safety and health (see, for example, our “Noise in figures” report). The Agency maintains close co-operation with the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, in order to build up a clear picture of occupational safety and health in the EU.

• European OSH Statistics
• European OSH Surveys

European employment trends
Safety and health policy and practice have to adapt. Working environments are continually changing as a result of the introduction of new technologies, changes in the way work is organised and shifts in economic, social and demographic conditions.

Europe’s workforce is:

• ageing
• becoming more female
• employing an increasing proportion of migrant workers, both legal and undeclared
• using more temporary and part-time workers
• making increasing use of new technology.

Key safety and health statistics
The Agency collects and publicises statistics for the major safety and health topics, and the most hazardous sectors. These are some of the most significant:

Agriculture
The fatal accident rate for the old EU 15 member States is 12.6 per 100,000 workers; for accidents with more than three days’ absence, the rate is more than 6,000 per 100,000 workers. These are some of the highest rates for any industry. In the old Member States just 4% of the working population work in agriculture, but in the new Member States it is 13.4%.

Construction
Around 1,300 workers are killed each year, equivalent to 13 employees out of every 100,000 — more than twice the average of other sectors.

Education
Some 15% of employees in Europe’s education sector, from teachers and cooks to administrative staff, have suffered physical or verbal abuse at work.

Health care
The accident rate in the health care sector is 34% higher than the EU average.

MSDs
Lower back disorders affect 60-90% of people at some point in their life; at any one time, 15- 42% are affected.

Noise
An estimated one third of Europe's workers — more than 60 million people — are exposed to high levels of noise for more than a quarter of their working time.

Small and medium-sized enterprises
There are 19 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU, employing nearly 75 million people. However, SMEs record an over-proportional 82% of all occupational injuries, rising to about 90% for fatal accidents.

Stress
More than one in four workers are affected by work-related stress in the European Union.

Young workers
Across Europe, 18 to 24-year-olds are at least 50% more likely to be injured in the workplace than more experienced workers.

Information sources (only in English)