Elke Schneider, Project Manager, European risk observatory European risk observatory – Use of HSW statistics Eurostat ESAW meeting, Luxembourg, 21 st April 2009

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work founded 1996

Use of ESAW data by EU-OSHA Since the agency started its first campaigns EW 2000 – Preventing accidents at work Recent activities:  European Week on Young Workers  Data collection on the transport sector  Data collection on ageing workers, HORECA sector  EW Week on Maintenance  Cross-link to data collection on occupational diseases – accidents linked to lifting loads/MSDs, suicide at work, sudden cardiovascular events

Some potential uses for EU-OSHAs analysis  Evidence base for topics addressed in campaigns  Input into prevention – help focus good practice data collection  Highlight emerging issues  Background information for legislative initiatives, e.g. EU Directives, changes to national legislation  Support to labour inspections’ actions, e.g. SLIC campaigns  Input into data collection – topics and issues Need for information on specific issues, e.g. violence at work Highlight needs for further methodology development, e.g. cross-tabulation, specific accidents Link to occupational diseases, e.g. MSDs, violence

ESAW meeting Example: Phase 3 figures – maintenance

Maintenance – the Agency´s campaign  The campaign sees maintenance as a ubiquitous process rather than a “sector” or maintenance workers as a “worker group”.  Corrective or reactive maintenance, when actions are intended to restore a system from a failed state to a working state (e.g. repair or replacement of broken components)  Preventive maintenance, when actions are carried out at predetermined intervals or according to prescribed criteria intended to reduce the probability of failure or the degradation of the functioning of an item.

Maintenance - statistics  Data from France and Spain indicate that about 6% of the working population is involved in maintenance tasks  According to a 2005 survey in France, maintenance is the most subcontracted function in industry.  In Spain, maintenance workers are most often found in the services sector (70% in 2004), followed by industry (19%), and construction (10%).

Maintenance workers are exposed to many and varied hazards at work  physical hazards: noise, vibrations, excessive heat and cold, radiation, high physical workload,  chemical hazards: work with asbestos, welding, exposure to dangerous substances when working in confined spaces  biological hazards: legionella, hepatitis A virus, leptospira,  psychosocial hazards (poor work organisation). Maintenance workers are also at risk of all types of accidents.

Maintenance - statistics Spanish data

Sectors concerned  Majority of maintenance-related accidents in manufacturing, construction, real estate, renting and business activities and in Austria also in hotels and restaurants.  Real estate, renting and business activities: 40% of maintenance-related accidents in Finland, 34% in Spain, and 26% in Belgium  Electricity, gas and water supply sector: in % of accidents in Finland and Belgium, 34% in Spain, and 23% in Italy

Maintenance statistics from the ESAW phase 3 Fatal accidents 10-20% of fatal accidents are maintenance-related

Number of accidents related to maintenance activities (EUROSTAT, 2007) Spain Total Maintenance -related 17%14% Belgium Totaln.d Maintenance -related 21%19% Finland Total Maintenance -related 19%18%19%

ESAW - More requests - needs Violence at work  Variables deviation/violence between employees / from external people  Mode of injury – mental stress or shock  Type of injury – shocks after agression/threats by persons  Cross-tabulation with sectors, gender, age Transport  Information by gender and age, because there are very different profiles in the different transport subsectors Women at work  Which sectors, groups, cross-tabulations  Causes and circumstances of accidents, e.g. violence  Highlight specific issues for prevention, where there are major differences between female and male workers

Some potential uses for EU-OSHAs analysis  Evidence base for topics addressed in campaigns  Input into prevention – help focus good practice data collection  Highlight emerging issues  Background information for legislative initiatives, e.g. EU Directives, changes to national legislation  Support to labour inspections’ actions, e.g. SLIC campaigns  Input into data collection – topics and issues Need for information on specific issues, e.g. violence at work Highlight needs for further methodology development, e.g. cross-tabulation, accidents Recognition of occupational diseases, e.g. MSDs

Thank you for your attention!