Eurostat: Cyprus has high rate of fatal work accidents

Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou on Wednesday, together with trade unions, paid tribute to people who have been killed in workplace accidents as Eurostar revealed that Cyprus has one of the highest rates of fatal work accidents in the EU.

The minister said this year’s commemmoration was taking place in the shadow of “the difficult conditions created by the Covid-19 pandemic, both in our country and around the world”.

“This crisis is unprecedented and has affected society as a whole and, of course, the world of work,” she added.  “Unfortunately, we face the effects of the pandemic on a daily basis”. These include, she said, the imminent threat of transmission of the coronavirus in the workplace, hospitalisations, loss of life, as well as new forms of work arrangements, such as teleworking, job loss, and business closures.

The crisis also demonstrated the need to further strengthen the implementation of occupational safety and health management systems so they can absorb unforeseen threats and new risks.

Emilianidou said the Cyprus strategy for safety and health at work has been signed by all social partners, the implementation of which is evaluated on an annual basis, and in addition, a special action plan is being implemented, which was formulated following suggestions from the social partners, to limit the increase in accidents at work.

“The common goal of all of us is and must remain the creation of an appropriate and adequate working environment that ensures the life, well-being, health and well-being of employees for the benefit of all. Because the health and safety of workers is not just a fundamental social right. It is, above all, a pre-eminent human right, she added. “It is the duty of all of us to make sure that all employees return home from work safe and sound”.

Earlier Wednesday a Eurostat survey showed that Cyprus has one of the highest rates of fatal work accidents in the EU. The report was issued to mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work, an annual international campaign to promote safe, healthy and decent work held on April 28.

Among EU member states, in 2018 the highest rates were recorded in Luxembourg with 6.42 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers, followed by Romania (5.27), Latvia (4.69), Cyprus (4.51) and Austria (4.31).

The Netherlands registered the lowest standardised incidence rate with 0.87 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers. This was followed by Germany (1.00) and Finland (1.28).

The standardised incidence rate has fallen over the past years in the EU: from 2.87 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers in 2010 to 2.21 in 2018.

In 2018, almost 2.4 million non-fatal work accidents resulted in workers being absent from work for four days or more in the EU, while 2,954 work-related accidents were fatal.

Men were considerably more likely than women to have an accident at work. In 2018, almost 8 out of 10 (78 per cent) non-fatal accidents and the vast majority, 96 per cent, of fatal accidents at work in the EU involved men.