Industrial accident rate still high

Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

Responses

The government's analysis is that the industrial accident rate is improving because, though the number of slight accidents has increased by 1.75% according to the most recent Eurostat statistics, the number of serious accidents has fallen by 9%, which is seen as a good result. Furthermore, 98% of accidents are slight. Also, 30% of the fatal accidents are due to "non-traumatic" causes such as heart attacks, and both these and work-related road incidents are difficult for companies to address. Thus, considering these facts, it can be concluded that there has been an improvement in health and safety in companies, the government claims.

Employers' organisations claim that some of the reasons for the high accident rate can be found in the vitality of economic growth during the phase of prosperity that has coincided with the years since the introduction of the new occupational risks law. They also state that in many cases accidents take place because of failures to follow the rules which are the personal responsibility of workers. The employers claim that a large number of accidents are beyond the control of the employers, especially those attributable to personal diseases and those that occur outside the workplace, over which the employers have no control. In short, industrial accidents are often a question of individual responsibility. However, employers have a vested interest in preventing these accidents, both to achieve desired levels of health and safety and because accidents at work have a negative effect on productivity.

The Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO) underlines that the law determines the employers' obligations to avoid and reduce occupational risks, and it is thus a valid instrument of prevention. However, there seems to be a low level of application of the law. One reason for this, it is suggested, may be the employers' lack of knowledge of health and safety regulations.

CC.OO points out that the workers at greatest risk are those in the construction and agriculture sectors, older workers, those with little seniority and the self-employed (ES9904215F). Other factors leading to a high accident rate may be pressure to perform, competition between companies and the difficulty of obtaining information and guidance on the law. Work rhythms, the employment rate, manual work, job rotation and casual labour also have an effect on the accident rate. In the construction sector (ES0011122F and ES0004282F), where the accident rate is particularly high, the causes seem to be subcontracting, mobility, temporary employment and the provisional nature of the facilities. The serious and fatal accidents usually occur in companies with six to 50 workers. Also, there is a high rate of work-related road incidents, especially in sectors such as finance, real estate, information technology and research and development. The sectors most affected by fatal work-related road incidents are retail and hotels and catering. In fact, in CC.OO's opinion, fatal accidents usually occur outside the workplace and are often caused by the use of private transport.

CC.OO's main proposals are that there should be greater control of the implementation of the law (ES0105241N), with more action by the administration, better employment policies, classification of work-related road incidents as industrial accidents, and training in health and safety for workers. In September 2000, the union confederation presented a "popular legislative initiative" (a procedure that allows ordinary citizens to present proposals directly to parliament if they are endorsed by a certain number of signatures), supported by more than 600,000 signatures, requesting the regulation of subcontracting in the construction sector in order to address health and safety concerns. However, it was rejected by parliament (ES0012125N).

In the opinion of the General Workers' Confederation (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT), the fundamental factors behind the high industrial accident rate in Spain are subcontracting, temporary employment and the increasing instability of the labour market - dimensions that will grow due to the recently introduced labour market reform (ES0103237F). UGT claims that the 1999-2000 national action plan on industrial accidents, renewed in 2001, has not been carried out. It considers that there is a need, within the social dialogue, to raise awareness of measures that might help to solve the situation, such as:

• the implementation of a national training plan;

• the development of the article of the Law on Prevention of Occupational Risks on the coordination of preventive activities in companies that share the same workplace;

• the regulation of subcontracting;

• intensifying and coordinating action in companies with the highest accident rates, with the real participation of the social partners;

• reporting the unjustified postponement of medical check-ups; and

• giving priority to monitoring workers' health

Commentary

In the five years that have gone by since the introduction of legislation regulating such an important matter for the economy and for society, the level of awareness of health and safety among the social partners has certainly increased. However, the industrial accident rate is still very high. The probable reason for this is the relationship between industrial accidents and sectors at special risk associated with job rotation, mobility and unstable employment. Though there is a tendency towards specialisation, workers often have insufficient experience because they do not remain in a job for long and have little job security. They therefore have a low level of professional competence in carrying out the tasks assigned to them, in addition to a low level of training on health and safety and work organisation. (Daniel Albarracín, Fundación CIREM)