Accidents at work, the number of people who lose their lives and also occupational diseases increases

ROME – Safety in the workplace – at the center of a special day dedicated to the topic yesterday – is as topical as ever and at the center of a debate involving the economy and politics of our country. And not only. In the meantime, however, it should be remembered that in the world, every 15 seconds, a worker dies due to an accident at work or an occupational disease. An estimate – necessarily crude, non-scientific – however tells us that every day, at least in the part of the world where it is possible to study the phenomenon of safety in the workplace, 6,300 people die due to accidents or occupational diseases. The result is that, in the end, there are more than 2.3 million deaths each year. There are 317 million workplace accidents annually, many of which lead to extended absences from work due to illness.

The situation in Italy. In the last three months there have been 196 deaths (+3.7% compared to 2022). Occupational diseases are also growing: those reported were 18,164, equal to 25.1% more than the previous year. The INAIL report, relating to the first quarter of 2023, also informs us of the fact that the reports of accidents at work, presented to the Institute by the end of March, totaled 144,586 (-25.5% compared to March 2022) . Yesterday, the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, on the occasion of the World Day for Health and Safety at Work, said that “The safety of all workers is a central objective of his Dicastery in health promotion and prevention policies We have recently reactivated – he added – the Committee for the guidance and evaluation of active policies for the national coordination of supervisory activities in the field of health and safety at work envisaged by the Consolidated Law on health and safety at work to which all the institutional actors participate”.

The social cost of the phenomenon. Therefore, the human cost of these daily tragedies is enormous and the economic burden caused by insufficient and sporadic practices relating to safety in the workplace is estimated to be 4% of the world’s gross domestic product every year. It goes without saying that a large part of the burden falls on the community, while – it goes without saying – that what is saved by not investing in safety ends up in the “profits” item of companies and businesses.

The number of complaints drops. INAIL reports, again in the first quarter of this year, a marked reduction in accident reports: a figure that is related to the lower incidence of cases of contagion from Covid-19. Accident reports submitted to the Institute are down compared to the first quarter of 2022 (-25.5%) – as can be learned from an article by Social Editor – but up compared to 128,671 in 2021 (+12.4%) and 130,905 in 2020 (+10.5%), and down compared to 157,576 in 2019 (-8.2%). At national level, the data collected as at 31 March of each year show, for the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, a decrease in cases that occurred at work, which went from 176,545 in 2022 to 124,716 in 2023 (- 29.4%), while those in transit, i.e. occurring on the round trip between home and workplace, recorded an increase of 13.1%, from 17,561 to 19,870.

Significant decreases in complaints: Lazio, Liguria, Campania. If we analyze the data relating to complaints in all areas of the country, the decrease is more evident in the Islands (-31.0%): immediately after there are the southern regions (-30.7%); those of the North-West (-29.4%); those of the Center (-25.8%) and the North-East (-17.0%). Among the regions with the greatest percentage decreases are Campania, Liguria and Lazio. The drop that emerges from the comparison of the first quarters of 2022 and 2023 is linked both to the female component, which records a -40.6% (from 89,130 ​​to 52,956 reported cases), and to the male component, which presents a -12.7 % (from 104,976 to 91,630). The decrease affected both Italian workers (-28.5%) as well as EU (-23.1%) and non-EU workers (-5.0%). The analysis by age group shows decreases in all groups, except among the under 20s (+28.4%) and, to a lesser extent, among the over 74s (+4.3%).

Cases of death at work. Reports of accidents at work with a fatal outcome presented to the Institute in the first quarter of 2023 were – as mentioned at the beginning – 196, seven more than the 189 registered in the first quarter of 2022; 11 more than in 2021; 30 more than in 2020 and 16 less than in 2019. The increase concerned only Industry and services (from 160 to 168 complaints), while the State account (from 9 to 8) is decreasing and Agriculture records 20 deaths as in the first quarter of 2022. An increase emerges in the North-West (from 49 to 60 cases), in the Center (from 45 to 48) and in the Islands (from 15 to 16), a decrease in the South (from 39 to 31) and stability in the North-East (41 in both periods). Among the regions with the greatest increases are Piedmont (+9), Umbria (+6), Liguria and Friuli Venezia Giulia (+3 each), while the most evident decreases are those of Puglia (-6) , Tuscany (-5), Molise and the autonomous province of Bolzano (-3 each).

Reports of occupational disease. The reports of occupational disease registered by INAIL in the first quarter of 2023 were 18,164, 3,647 more than in the same period of 2022 (+25.1%). The increase is 33.7% compared to 2021, 28.8% compared to 2020 and 14.2% compared to 2019. The data collected on 31 March of each year show an increase of 25.5% in the Industry management and services (from 11,963 to 15,009 cases), 21.6% in Agriculture (from 2,457 to 2,987) and 73.2% in the State Account (from 97 to 168). The increase in complaints affects the Center (+31.4%), the North-East (+30.5%), the North-West (+28.1%) and the South (+25.4%), while the Islands recorded a decrease (-6.3%).