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European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

OSHA Network
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Key facts

  • Every few minutes somebody dies from work-related causes in the European Union
  • Every year hundreds of thousands of employees are injured at work
  • Men have more accidents than women
  • Young workers have a much higher accident rate than other age groups; older workers have more fatal accidents
  • The rate of accidents is higher in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  • Accident rates are higher in some sectors, including agriculture and construction
  • Accidents occurring at night tend to be more fatal than ones occurring at other times.
  • Wounds and superficial injuries are the most common type of injury
  • Workers on shift work have a higher accident rate