Significant decline in rate of accidents at work
Published: 24 September 2009
The 2008 Annual report (in Italian) [1] of the Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority (Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori, Inail [2]) includes for the first time medium-term trends of reported work-related accidents in Italy covering the 2001–2008 period.[1] http://www.inail.it/Portale/appmanager/portale/desktop?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PAGE_PUBBLICAZIONI&nextPage=PUBBLICAZIONI/Tutti_i_titoli/Rapporti/Rapporto_annuale/Rapporto_annuale_2008/Rapporto_annuale_2008/info-584700625.jsp[2] http://www.inail.it/
According to the 2008 annual report of the Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority, the long-term decline in reported work-related accidents, especially fatal accidents, continued in Italy in recent years. Such trends are consistent with self-reported occurrences from the Vocational Training Development Agency quality of work surveys and the 2007 ad hoc module on health and safety at work. However, undeclared work masks the full extent of occupational accidents.
The 2008 Annual report (in Italian) of the Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority (Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori, Inail) includes for the first time medium-term trends of reported work-related accidents in Italy covering the 2001–2008 period.
In 2008, occupational accidents showed a decline of 14.5% in absolute values and a decrease of 21.1% in incidence rates compared with 2001 (Table 1). In 2001, 47.4 workers out of every 1,000 workers experienced an occupational accident, while in 2008 this number decreased to 37.4 workers, due mainly to an 8.3% increase in overall employment.
Sectoral differences
The number of work-related accidents declined by one third in the agricultural sector and by a quarter in the manufacturing and construction sectors, while the number increased by 3% in the services sector. Looking at the incidence rates of such accidents, manufacturing and construction show the greatest improvement (-30.3%), while incidence rates declined by 7.6% in services.
| Reported occurrences | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2001–2008 variation (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 80,532 | 73,515 | 71,379 | 69,263 | 66,467 | 63,083 | 57,206 | 53,278 | -33.8 |
| Manufacturing and construction | 501,701 | 468,882 | 456,333 | 446,210 | 422,254 | 413,375 | 400,103 | 367,132 | -26.8 |
| Services | 441,146 | 450,258 | 449,482 | 451,256 | 451,300 | 451,700 | 455,101 | 454,530 | 3.0 |
| Total | 1,023,379 | 992,655 | 977,194 | 966,729 | 940,021 | 928,158 | 912,410 | 874,940 | -14.5 |
| Incidence rates per 1,000 workers | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2001–2008 variation (%) |
| Agriculture | 79.1 | 74.3 | 73.8 | 70 | 70.2 | 64.2 | 61.9 | 59.5 | -24.8 |
| Manufacturing and construction | 75.7 | 70 | 66.9 | 65 | 60.8 | 59.7 | 57.1 | 52.8 | -30.3 |
| Services | 31.6 | 31.7 | 31.1 | 31 | 30.8 | 30 | 29.8 | 29.2 | -7.6 |
| Total | 47.4 | 45.3 | 43.9 | 43.1 | 41.7 | 40.4 | 39.3 | 37.4 | -21.1 |
Note: 2008 figures are estimates.
Source: Inail, 2008
Increase in work-related commuting accidents
Occupational accidents that occurred while working show a considerable decline: -19.4% in absolute values and -25.7% in incidence rates from 2001 to 2008 (Table 2). However, work-related accidents that occurred while commuting increased over this period, by 66.8% in absolute values and 55.6% in incidence rates. This disappointing result is due to a wider scope of qualifying circumstances for such accidents after a 2000 governmental regulation, as well as an increase in individual mobility and road congestion.
| While working | While commuting | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported occurrences | Incidence rates* | Reported occurrences | Incidence rates* | Reported occurrences | Incidence rates* | |
| 2001 | 965,093 | 44.7 | 58,286 | 2.7 | 1,023,379 | 47.4 |
| 2008 | 777,739 | 33.2 | 97,201 | 4.2 | 874,940 | 37.4 |
| 2001–2008 variation (%) | -19.4 | -25.7 | 66.8 | 55.6 | -14.5 | -21.1 |
Notes: * Per 1,000 workers. 2008 figures are estimates.
Source: Inail, 2008
Decline in fatal accidents
Fatal accidents show a stronger decline in both occurrence (-27.6%) and incidence rates (-33.3%). The highest decrease in incidence rates is found in the services sector (-34.1%), while in the agricultural sector the decline is more moderate (-13.5%) (Table 3).
| 2001 | 2008 | 2001–2008 variation (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported occurrences | Incidence rates* | Reported occurrences | Incidence rates* | Reported occurrences | Incidence rates | |
| Agriculture | 159 | 0.156 | 121 | 0.135 | -23.9 | -13.5 |
| Manufacturing and construction | 766 | 0.116 | 554 | 0.08 | -27.7 | -31 |
| Services | 621 | 0.044 | 445 | 0.029 | -28.3 | -34.1 |
| Total | 1,546 | 0.072 | 1,120 | 0.048 | -27.6 | -33.3 |
Notes: * Per 1,000 workers. 2008 figures are estimates.
Source: Inail, 2008
Health and safety campaign reinforces downward trend
As the Inail report emphasises, the decline in occupational accidents shows a long-term trend, especially with regard to fatal accidents, which have decreased from 4,500 cases in 1963 to fewer than 1,200 incidents in 2008. The downward trend affects all sectors of economic activity, due to the implementation of existing legislation. In particular, the 2008 decline – especially in manufacturing and construction – seems to reflect an extensive health and safety campaign launched in 2006–2007 by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policy (Ministero del Lavoro, della Salute e delle Politiche Sociali). This campaign included increased coordination among inspectors of the ministry, the National Social Security Institute (Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale, Inps), Inail inspectors and occupational health services.
More workers feel their health is at risk
On the other hand, quality of work surveys by the Vocational Training Development Agency (Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori, Isfol) reveal that the proportion of workers feeling that their health is at risk increased from 20% in 2002 to 29.1% in 2006 (see the EWCO survey data reports Second Quality of Work Survey reveals decline in working conditions and Quality of work in Italy survey, 2002). Isfol found an increase in the proportion of workers reporting occupational accidents over their working life, from 7.1% in 2002 to 8.4% in 2006. However, the share of those reporting work-related illnesses over their working life is stable in the Isfol surveys, at about 17%.
The 2008 Inail annual report also refers to the Italian figures from the 2007 Labour Force Survey (LFS) ad hoc module on health and safety at work. The proportion of those reporting work-related illnesses in the LFS (6.9%) is lower than in the Isfol quality of work survey, because the LFS restricts the reference period to the last 12 months. Reported work-related accidents in the LFS (3.7%) are just below Inail’s 2007 rate.
Undeclared workers not included
However, these figures do not include work-related accidents among undeclared workers, who account for 13.4% of the total labour force in terms of full-time equivalent jobs. According to Inail estimates (in Italian, 66Kb PDF) carried out in 2006, this would imply at least a further 200,000 occupational accidents a year.
Mario Giaccone, Cesos
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2009), Significant decline in rate of accidents at work, article.
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