Accidents at work decline in the EU and Portugal in 2020
According to the European Statistical Office, in 2020, 2.4% of people employed in the EU – or not employed but who had worked during the year preceding the survey – reported at least one work accident in the previous 12 months, a lower percentage the 2.8% recorded in 2013, which may be partly due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Finland (9.6%), Sweden (5.0%) and France (4.6%) dissipated, in 2020, as the highest rates of work accidents, with Lithuania (0.5%), Bulgaria and Hungary (0.7% each) to register the minors.
Portugal is in sixth place in the table, with a rate of 3.2%, compared to 4.0% registered in 2013.
The occupational category with the highest percentage of people reporting an accident at work at EU level in 2020 was workers in the craft sector (4.4%).
With regard to risk factors for physical health at work, 13.2% of respondents indicated tiring or painful positions as the most serious for their health, followed by activities involving strong visual concentration (10.0%), handling heavy loads (9.1%) and repetitive movements of the hands or arms (8.7%).
The data also indicated that 44.6% of employed people aged between 15 and 64 years declared to face the risk to their mental well-being at work.