Cyprus ranked the fourth worst in the EU27 in 2018 in relation to the incidence of fatal accidents at work, according to data released by Eurostat.

According to a standardised incidence rate per 100,000 persons employed, Cyprus ‘scored’ 4.51. By comparison, the average across the EU stood at 2.21.

Luxembourg fared the worst at 6.42, followed by Romania at 5.27, then Latvia at 4.69.

The Netherlands had the lowest incidence rate at 0.87. Greece’s score was 1.69.

The total number of fatal accidents numbered 3,332.

Eurostat also reported that during 2018 a total of 3.12 million non-fatal workplace accidents resulted in employees being absent from work for four or more calendar days.

Men had a far higher probability than women of suffering a workplace accident – 78 per cent of non-fatal incidents involved men, 96 per cent for fatal accidents.

The average standardised incidence rate of fatal accidents at work across the EU had dropped over the years, declining from 2.87 in 2010 to 2.21 in 2018.