Construction accident rates continue to fall but remain unacceptably high, according to Eurostat data published by the Agency
News release - 21.10.2004
Accident rates in Europe’s construction industry have declined steadily and steeply since 1994 but remain unacceptably high, according to new statistics published in the latest edition of the magazine of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Accident rates in Europe’s construction industry have declined steadily and steeply since 1994 but remain unacceptably high, according to new statistics published in the latest edition of the magazine of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Based on preliminary data from the 2001 European Statistics on Accidents at Work collected by Eurostat, fatal accidents in the sector fell by 29% between 1994 and 2001, while the rate of non-fatal accidents dropped by 20%. The steepest decline occurred between 2000 and 2001, the latest year for which data is available: over this period non-fatal accidents per 100,000 employees fell from 7,518 to 7,213 and fatal accidents from 11.4 to 10.4 per 100,000 in the pre-enlargement EU of 15 Member States.
Nevertheless, fatal and non-fatal accident rates in construction remain around twice as high as the EU sectoral average. The risks are even greater in small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): for example there are 9,500 non-fatal accidents per 100,000 employees each year in construction firms employing less than 10 people compared to 5,000 in firms with over 250 employees.
The differences between SMEs and larger construction businesses could reflect differences in the resources available to maintain and develop work safety, although it is also possible that the smallest companies operate in sub-sectors where the overall risk of accidents is higher, according to Eurostat, the European Commission’s Statistical Office.
The latest issue of the Agency magazine, which focuses on the construction industry in the run-up to the Agency’s 2004 ‘Building in Safety’ European week campaign (October 18-22 2004), includes a number of articles that explore ways to improve occupational safety and health (OSH) standards in the industry. Subjects covered include:
- Coordinated action in the Europe construction Industry: A review of the recent inspection campaign run by the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee (SLIC).
- Social dialogue in construction: How two of Europe’s biggest social partners in construction, the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) and the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW), are teaming up to lift standards.
- Achieving excellence in construction procurement: How buying ‘safely’ not only reduces the risks of accidents and ill-health but also saves money.
- Promotion of action to improve safety and health with small construction companies: A round up of various examples of good practice for SMEs.
- Safe maintenance of work equipment in construction: A description of a new and highly successful equipment manual being rolled out in the Netherlands.
Copies of the magazine in English can be downloaded from the Agency’s website http://agency.osha.europa.eu/publications/magazine/7/en/index.htm. It will also shortly be published in German, French and Spanish.
END
Further information
Press contacts - Bilbao:
Andrew Smith, email: smith@osha.europa.eu European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Tel: +34 94 479 57 33
Greg Haywood, email: haywood@osha.europa.eu European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Tel : +34 94 479 35 39
Other enquiries:
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain, email: information@osha.europa.eu, fax: +34 94 479 4383.
Notes to editors
- The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.
- The European Week for Safety and Health at Work, which will take place on 18-22 October 2004, is an information campaign designed to raise awareness and promote activities to make Europe a safe and healthy place to work. It is coordinated by the European Agency and will be run in the Member States, accession, and EFTA countries. The Week is aimed at the workplace and all safety and health institutions and organisations, trade unions, companies, managers, employees and safety representatives are invited to take part and organise their own activities. These can include special audits and risk assessment activities in the workplace, organising training, distributing information material, launching a new workplace policy, suggestion schemes, encouraging participation of employees and their representatives or linking-up with other organisations, businesses or sub contractors to carry out activities in partnership. The slogan of EW2004 is ‘Building in Safety’.
