According to official data published in 2002, the number of people injured in accidents at work in Poland fell by over 10% in 2001, and falls were also registered in fatal and serious accidents. However, the State Labour Inspection argues that the risk of occupational accidents still remains at a very high level, especially in building, mining and agriculture.
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According to official data published in 2002, the number of people injured in accidents at work in Poland fell by over 10% in 2001, and falls were also registered in fatal and serious accidents. However, the State Labour Inspection argues that the risk of occupational accidents still remains at a very high level, especially in building, mining and agriculture.
According to preliminary data published by Polish Official Statistics (Główny Urząd Statystyczny, GUS), there were 85,275 persons injured in accidents at work in 2001 (excluding private farming), which represented a decline of 10.1% compared with the previous year (94,881 injured persons). Accidents at work caused the death of 548 people (9.3% less than in 2000, when 604 persons died), while a total of 1,155 people sustained injuries in 'serious' accidents (15.8% less than in 2000, when 1,371 persons were injured). One of the consequences of such serious accidents is the inability of the injured persons to continue their work.
In 2001, the sectors accounting for the highest proportions of the total number of people injured in accidents at work were:
industrial processing – 39.4%;
construction – 11.3%;
trade and repairs – 9.2%;
healthcare and welfare – 9.0%;
transport, warehousing and communications – 7.0%;
real estate and corporate servicing, and education – 4.9%; and
mining – 3.9%.
According to GUS, a total of 30,926 people were injured in accidents at work in the public sector in 2001. Of these, 138 people died and 278 were victims of serious accidents. The public sector accounted for approximately 36.3% of the total number of people injured in accidents at work, while its share in fatal and serious accidents was 25.2% and 24.1% respectively.
Accidents at work in the private sector affected a total of 54,394 persons, of whom 410 died and 877 were victims of serious accidents. The private sector accounted for approximately 63.7% of the total number of people injured in accidents, while its share in fatal accidents was 74.8% and in serious accidents 75.9%.
As in previous years, the principal causes of accidents at work in 2001 included improper conduct on the part of the employee (50.6% of all cases) and bad organisation (13.9%), including bad organisation of work (7.4%) and of the specific workstation (6.5%).
Women accounted for 25.8% of the total number of people injured in accidents at work.
An analysis of the work experience of people injured in accidents at work shows that almost half of them (47.1%) had less than three years of work experience in their position, while one-third had less then one year of work experience. It should, however, be noted that employees with more than 16 years of work experience in a given position constituted the single largest group of persons injured in accidents at work (16.5%).
Although the number of accidents at work declined in 2001 in comparison with previous years, the State Labour Inspection (Państowowa Inspekcja Pracy) warns that the risk of occupational accidents remains high, particularly in the construction industry, mining and agriculture. Many of those injured in accidents at work are no longer able to work as a result.
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (2002), Accidents at work decrease, article.
