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There has been a decline in occupational illnesses and accidents at work in the Czech Republic since 1990. This is attributed to a combination of factors, such as industrial restructuring and a shift towards tertiary services. However, the decline in registered cases may also be partly due to a decrease in the number of workers reporting incidents, as a result of fears of unemployment.
In 2003, in the Czech Republic, 1,486 occupational illnesses and 72 risks of illness were reported among 1,506 workers. The number of persons concerned is lower (1,506) than the total number of reported incidents because, for 50 workers, two or more illnesses or risks of illness were reported during the course of the year.
Nonetheless, there is a long-term decreasing trend in terms of the absolute number of accidents at work (or the amount of sick leave as a result of accidents at work). The decrease in the number of registered cases stabilised in the period 1994-1998. However, further decreases have been registered since 1999.
| 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational illnesses | 5,825* | 5,381* | 3,393 | 2,983 | 2,675 | 2,806 | 2,519 |
| Occupational illnesses per 100,000 policy holders | 106.14 | 105.00 | 70.40 | 63.32 | 56.25 | 59.60 | 55.24 |
| Accidents at work | 153,199 | 134,932 | 124,655 | 109,908 | 103,949 | 106,275 | 104,288 |
| Accidents at work per 100 policy holders | 2.79 | 2.63 | 2.59 | 2.33 | 2.19 | 2.26 | 2.27 |
| 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupational illnesses | 2,350 | 2,054 | 1,845 | 1,691 | 1,627 | 1,531 | 1,486 |
| Occupational illnesses per 100,000 policy holders | 49.15 | 44.12 | 41.19 | 37.43 | 36.29 | 34.28 | 33.50 |
| Accidents at work | 108,704 | 107,175 | 95,971 | 92,906 | 93,280 | 90,867 | 83,019 |
| Accidents at work per 100 policy holders | 2.25 | 2.24 | 2.10 | 2.06 | 2.08 | 2.03 | 1.87 |
* After deducting the reclassification in accordance with the Methodical Instructions of the Czech Ministry of Health, Ref. No. LP/2-265-2.7.90-259/8, dated 2 July 1990. Sources: Occupational Diseases 1991,1995,1999, Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic (UZIS) 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003; Sick leave due to disease and accident in the Czech Republic in 1990-2000, CSU; 2003 Progress Report, Czech Work Safety Authority, Prague 2004
The decline in occupational illnesses and accidents at work in recent years is the result of a combination of factors, particularly the phasing out and restructuring of certain high risk industries (metallurgy, mining, heavy machine industry). It is also attributed to a gradual change in the structure of the national economy, namely, a shift in the workforce towards the service sectors. Unemployment is another factor contributing to the reduction in occupational illnesses and accidents at work. Workers who are concerned about losing their job often fail to report health problems during preventive check-ups. Self-employed people and people employed in the grey economy do not undergo preventive check-ups at all.
Thus, the decreasing number of reported occupational illnesses since the 1990s cannot be interpreted as a purely positive development, since it is partly the result of undesirable factors. These include deficiencies in the provision of occupational health care in companies; restructuring of industry and health services throughout the 1990s meant that some employers were not able to fulfil their legal obligations. Another issue, as indicated above, is the concern of workers about the potential social and economic impact of admitting to having an occupational illness (primarily concern about losing their job).
Moreover, notwithstanding the decline in reported incidents, other factors directly influenced an increase in the rates of occupational illness and accidents during the period under study, such as disimproved preventive care at company level and the neglect of preventive care and accident prevention by some private businesses.
As in previous years, in 2003, most occupational illnesses were due to physical factors (noise, vibration, dust, radiation, etc) (34% of cases), followed in decreasing order by diseases affecting the respiratory organs, lungs, pleura and peritoneum (22%), skin diseases (21.7%), infectious and parasitary diseases (19.4%), diseases caused by chemical substances (2.6%), and diseases caused by other agents (0.3%). Compared with 2002, illnesses induced by physical factors showed a 7% decrease, while a 7.6% increase was registered in the incidence of diseases affecting the respiratory organs, lungs, pleura and peritoneum.
The incidence of occupational illnesses and accidents at work varies by sector, as illustrated in the following table.
| Occupational illnesses | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of policy holders in 2003 | Men | Women | Total | Per 100,000 policy holders | |
| Farming, gamekeeping | 135,696 | 64 | 60 | 124 | 91.38 |
| Mining | 47,980 | 261 | 1 | 262 | 546.06 |
| Processing industry | 1,036,827 | 451 | 272 | 723 | 69.73 |
| Power production and distribution | 64,264 | 1 | - | 1 | 1.56 |
| Construction | 151,143 | 37 | - | 37 | 24.48 |
| Trading, motor vehicle repair | 259,453 | 11 | 7 | 18 | 6.94 |
| Catering and accommodation | 43,166 | - | 3 | 3 | 6.95 |
| Transport, post and telecommunications | 270,651 | 15 | 6 | 21 | 7.76 |
| Banking | 65,998 | - | - | - | - |
| Real estate, services, research | 221,430 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2.26 |
| Public administration, defence, social security | 208,950 | 23 | 4 | 27 | 12.92 |
| Education | 257,879 | 1 | 14 | 15 | 5.82 |
| Health care, veterinary and social care activities | 233,624 | 29 | 196 | 225 | 96.31 |
| Other public services | 99,108 | 14 | 11 | 25 | 25.23 |
| Unidentified | 1,339,265 | - | |||
| Total | 4,435,434 | 910 | 576 | 1,486 | 33.50 |
Sources: 2003 Progress Report, Czech Work Safety Authority , Prague 2004; Recent Data No. 68/2004, UZIS CR 2004; Health Data - Dynamic Tables, UZIS; Occupational Diseases, UZIS CR 2004
| Accidents at work | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of policy holders in 2003 | Men | Women | Total | Per 100,000 policy holders | |
| Farming, gamekeeping | 135,696 | 4,479 | 1,763 | 6,242 | 4.60 |
| Mining | 1,084,807 | 27 404 | 7,819 | 35,223 | 3.25 |
| Processing industry | 64,264 | 694 | 85 | 779 | 1.21 |
| Power production and distribution | 151,143 | 4,991 | 192 | 5,183 | 3.43 |
| Construction | 259,453 | 2,980 | 2,032 | 5,012 | 1.93 |
| Trading, motor vehicle repair | 43,166 | 406 | 421 | 827 | 1.92 |
| Catering and accommodation | 270,651 | 3,849 | 1,472 | 5,321 | 1.97 |
| Transport, post and telecommunications | 287,428 | 1,796 | 848 | 2,644 | 0.92 |
| Banking | 208,950 | 1,327 | 592 | 1,919 | 0.92 |
| Real estate, services, research | 257,879 | 391 | 1,136 | 1,527 | 0.59 |
| Public administration, defence, social security | 233,624 | 670 | 1,604 | 2,274 | 0.97 |
| Education | 99,108 | 1,130 | 329 | 1,459 | 1.47 |
| Health care, veterinary and social care activities | 1,339,265 | 12,167 | 2,442 | 14,609 | 1.09 |
| Other public services | 4,435,434 | 62,284 | 20,735 | 83,019 | 1.87 |
Source: Sick leave due to disease and accident in the Czech Republic in 2003, CSU 2004
As in 2002, most occupational illnesses were registered in industry and mining. Health and social care came third in the ranking by incidence of occupational illnesses. In 2003, accidents at work were most frequent in the processing industry, with 40.6% of cases, and in farming, with 7.5% of cases.
In general, occupational illnesses and accidents at work tend to affect more men than women. However, not surprisingly, in feminised sectors such as health care and education, more cases are registered for women.
The above findings concerning the incidence of occupational illnesses and accidents at work, from the records of the Czech Statistics Office, correspond with the subjective evaluation of working conditions obtained in the Working Conditions survey organised by the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (Výzkumný ústav práce a sociálních věcí, VUPSV; RILSA) in 2000. The survey was a Czech version of the European Working Conditions Survey.
According to the results from RILSA, 43.7% of economically active respondents indicated that they worked in an environment which posed risks to their safety and health; just 6% were not aware of any risk. By sector, the proportion of respondents who believed that their working conditions exposed them to risk was particularly high in mining (76.8%) and the processing industry (52.7%). By occupation, craftsmen, repair and processing workers (63.5%) and machine and equipment operators (75.9%) perceived themselves as exposed to significantly higher than average risk.
Czech Statistics Office (Český statistický úřad, CZSO, ČSÚ)
Czech Work Safety Authority (ČÚBP) (since July 2005, State Work Inspection Authority (Státní úřad inspekce práce, SÚIP))
National Institute of Public Health (Státní zdravotnický ústav, NIPH, SZÚ)