“The second half of 2022 has begun and workplace deaths show no signs of decreasing. There are 569 workers who lost their lives from North to South of the country from January to July 2022, with an average of 81 deaths at work each month. And, although the official surveys from January to July 2022 show an overall decrease in mortality of 16% compared to 2021 (there were 677 at the end of July 2021), the reality of the facts is very different.
Because the decline continues to be strongly “induced” by the almost total absence of Covid-related deaths in 2022 compared to 2021: last year, in the first six months, fatal accidents due to Covid were 367 out of 538, approximately 68%. This year, they are only 11 out of 463, or 2%. This means that “non-Covid” fatal accidents went from 171 in the first half of 2021 to 452 in the corresponding period of 2022, with a striking and dramatic increase of 164%”.
This is the first projection commented by Mauro Rossato, President of the Vega Engineering Workplace Safety Observatory in Mestre, with which he anticipates the constant critical issues of the emergency in our country.
And job insecurity is also clearly visible in the total number of accident reports, which increased by 41,1% compared to 2021, reaching 441.451. And the Healthcare, Manufacturing and Transport sectors remain at the top of the list.
But the increasingly significant data in the Mestre Observatory's investigation is the real risk of death of workers, region by region and province by province. The Vega Engineering Workplace Safety Observatory in Mestre has always analyzed the mortality incidence index, that is, the ratio of fatal accidents to the regional and provincial working population, whose average in Italy in the first seven months of the year is 18,3 deaths per million employed. This index allows us to compare the accident phenomenon even between regions with different numbers of workers.
Based on the incidence of fatal accidents, the Mestre Observatory processes monthly the zoning of the risk of death for workers in our country which is described as follows - similar to the pandemic - dividing Italy into colors.
The regions that ended up in the red zone at the end of the first seven months of 2022, with an incidence higher than 125% compared to the national average (Im = Average Incidence Index, equal to 18,3 per million workers) are: Valle D'Aosta, Trentino Alto Adige, Molise Calabria and Umbria.
In the orange zone: Marche, Tuscany, Puglia, Sicily, Campania, Emilia Romagna and Veneto.
In the yellow zone: Sardinia, Piedmont, Lazio, Abruzzo and Lombardy.
In the white zone: Basilicata, Liguria and Friuli Venezia Giulia.
(Graphs and data are available in the attachment and on the website www.vegaengineering.com/osservatorio).
THE ABSOLUTE NUMBERS OF WORK-RELATED DEATHS IN ITALY FROM JANUARY TO JULY 2022
Leading the ranking of the highest number of victims at work is still the region with the highest working population in Italy, namely Lombardy (60).
They are followed by: Veneto and Emilia Romagna (39), Lazio (35), Tuscany (34), Campania (32), Piedmont (31), Sicily (27), Puglia (26), Trentino Alto Adige (19), Calabria and Marche (14), Sardinia (10), Umbria (9), Abruzzo (7), Liguria (5), Valle D'Aosta (4), Molise (3), Basilicata and Friuli Venezia Giulia (2).
The attached report shows the number of work-related deaths province by province.
Even in the first seven months of 2022, the Transport and Warehousing sector recorded the highest number of work-related deaths: 63 (13 more victims than the previous month). They are followed by: Construction (62) and Manufacturing (41).
The age group most affected by fatal accidents at work is still that between 55 and 64 years old (145 out of a total of 412). But the highest incidence rate of mortality compared to employed people is still found among older workers, those over sixty-five, who register 55,3 fatal accidents per million employed people.
The lowest mortality rate, however, remains in the 25-34 age group (equal to 10,5), while in the younger age group, i.e. between 15 and 24, the rate rises to 12,8 fatal accidents per million employed. These data confirm that the highest frequency of fatal accidents is found among older workers and that the very young, i.e. workers under 25, are at greater risk of dying at work than more “mature” workers.
The women who lost their lives at work from January to July 2022 are 33 out of 412. In 29, however, they lost their lives in itinere, that is, on the way from home to work.
There are 71 foreigners who died at work.
Tuesday was confirmed as the day of the week with the highest number of fatal accidents in the first seven months of 2022.
Total accident reports are increasing (+41,1% compared to July 2021). At the end of July 2021, there were 312.762, while at the end of July 2022, they were 441.451.
More than 60 thousand accidents occurred at work in the Health and Social Assistance sector. Over 44 thousand in manufacturing activities and more than 39 thousand in Transport.
Injury reports by Italian female workers in the first seven months of 2022 were 188.509, those by male colleagues were 252.942.
COLOUR ZONING IS THE NEW GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION DEVELOPED BY THE VEGA ENGINEERING WORKPLACE SAFETY OBSERVATORY IN MESTRE, TO PICTURE THE LEVEL OF WORKERS' SAFETY.
The incidence of fatal accidents indicates the number of workers who die during work activity in a given area (region or province) for every million employed people present in the same area. This index allows to compare the accident phenomenon between different regions, even if characterized by a different working population.
The zoning used by the Vega Safety Observatory depicts the accident risk in the Italian regions according to the following color scale:
White: regions with an accident incidence lower than 75% of the national average incidence
Yellow: regions with an accident incidence between 75% of the national average incidence and the national average value
Orange: regions with an accident incidence between the national average and 125% of the national average
Red: regions with an accident incidence higher than 125% of the national average incidence
Vega Engineering Workplace Safety Observatory
Article published on 30 August 2022 - 20:58
