Sweden, Greece and Luxembourg report the highest proportion of people with work-related mental risks
Recently published data from Eurostat indicated that almost half (44.6%) of EU employees aged 15-64 reported risk factors for their mental well-being at work.
Sweden (76.4%), Greece (69.1%) and Luxembourg (67.4%) had the highest values, while the Czech Republic (33.8%), Lithuania (26.7%) and Germany (25.8% %) had the lowest proportions.
In 2020, 2.4% of employees or non-employees who had worked in the year before the EU interview reported at least one accident at work in the last 12 months, a significantly lower proportion than 2.8% registered in 2013, which was partly may be due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This information comes from data published today by Eurostat on accidents at work and work-related health problems from the EU Labor Force Survey (EU-LFS) ad hoc module.
The occupational category with the highest proportion of people who reported an accident at work at EU level 2020 was craftsmen and related professionals (4.4%), followed by plant and machinery operators and fitters, as well as skilled agricultural and fishing workers (both 3.4% ). People with basic occupations (3.3%) also noted a share that exceeded 3% in 2020.
At national level, the broad group of skilled agricultural, forestry and fisheries workers, craftsmen and related professionals registered the highest proportion of people who reported an accident in 15 of the 18 EU Member States for which data are available to all groups. Focusing only on this occupational group, the highest proportions of people who reported an accident were noted in Finland (19.1%), Sweden (11.7%) and Luxembourg (10.2%). However, shares below 2% were found in Latvia, Croatia, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania.
Tiring or painful positions were the most common physical risk factor at work
For 13.2% of workers at EU level, tired or painful positions were the most serious risk factor for their physical health at work. This was followed by activities involving strong visual concentration (10.0%), handling heavy loads (9.1%) and repeated hand or arm movements (8.7%).
Tiring or painful positions are more often seen as a risk for women than men (14.5% versus 12.2%). The same pattern can be seen for repetitive movements, which were explained as the most serious physical risk factor by 10.8% of women against 7.0% of men.
The largest gender difference was observed when using machines or hand tools and vehicles, as 10.3% of men considered it to be the most serious risk factor at work compared to 2.4% of women.