Estimating Accidents at Work in European Union

Abstract

This paper describes safety at work as an issue to be addressed in terms of legislation, with due statistical knowledge of the phenomenon. Through the application of multiple indicators while investigating the rate of homogeneity and non-homogeneity of available data, especially at international level, the concept at study can be analyzed using specific scientific methods. The Total Frequency Rate of accidents could be influenced by a country’s industrial structure. The standardization of  industrial structures into NACE divisions or sub-divisions (and not only on an aggregate activity level), has proved very useful as an integral part of the statistical infrastructure used within the European statistical system for producing comparable statistics. Looking at the distribution of the Total Frequency Rates (TFR) of accidents in different world regions, the picture is quite different, as the phenomenon is by no means evenly spread across the globe. Fatalities are proportionately much higher in some regions than in others. Carrying out a country-by-country analysis would in no doubt reveal greater variations. Occupational accidents and work-related diseases in some European countries are twice as high as in some others.We show that the shadow economy has an important impact in outlining an “effective frequency rate of accidents”. In Italy, the impact of an excessive economy and the influence of organized crime in the South, which could alter the basis for reporting work-related accidents and occupational safety performance indicators, has led to the consideration of the actual rate of accidents in Italy slightly higher than the European average.