Industrial Accidents on the Rise: New Study Reveals Alarming Statistics on Workplace Safety

In 2023, 2.7 percent of all workers had an industrial accident with physical injury or mental damage. In almost half of the cases, it led to a day or more of absence, according to figures from the National Situation Survey of Statistics Netherlands and TNO, completed by almost 62,000 workers.

Of all the professional groups, the police, fire brigades and supervisors have the greatest risk of an accident during their work and with a day or more absence. On average over the years 2021 to 2023, this applied to 6.3 per cent of police and firefighters and 5.5 per cent of directors. There is also a fair amount of occupational accidents and absenteeism among butchers, truck drivers, production machinery operators, carpenters, plumbers and pipe fitters.

When asked about the cause of the work accident, 17 percent of victims mention psychological overload, such as stress and fear. This is the highest level since the measurement of the causes began in 2017. At the time that, excessive psychological stress was the reason for 14 percent. .

Other causes: 14 percent of workers with an accident at work report being cut or hit, 12 percent have slipped, tripped or fallen, and 10 percent say they have been threatened, the biting or kicking. Less than 5 percent refer to a traffic accident or a fall from a ladder or scaffolding.

In 2020, the first year of the corona pandemic, the percentage of workers with an industrial accident decreased compared to previous years, both for accidents with and without absence. After 2020, the percentage that suffered an industrial accident has remained almost the same. This also applied to accidents with and without absence.

The figures do not include occupational accidents during travel, and there are no occupational accidents with a purely natural cause, such as heart attack or stroke. Recent figures on the number of industrial accident deaths are not available. The figures for 2022 will not appear until July as they are updated for all European countries via Eurostat.