The occupational accident rate in Andalusia grew by 2% in the first quarter of the year compared to the data recorded in 2022. One in every four serious accidents registered in the country and one in five fatalities occur in the region. These are data extracted from the latest report prepared by UGT-A on this matter, which indicates that Seville, Córdoba and Málaga are the points with the highest incidence.
At the end of June, 63 employees died while carrying out their jobs, two less than in 2022, although it was this year that the highest registration rate of the entire decade occurred.
The union, on the other hand, puts the magnifying glass on the times in which the accident occurs since some of the deceased suffered an accident during the first month of work, as well as points out that the construction sector and the service sector tend to be the activities where more accidents occur.
Despite the fact that commuting accidents have been reduced by half compared to 2022 (8 deaths), UGT-A highlights the increase in mortality during the day. In these first months of the year, the Fatal Incidence Rate has increased by 6.71% and the number of work accidents during the day is higher than the records of 2022.
Making a comparison with respect to occupational accidents throughout the country, it has been determined that almost 25% of serious accidents during work take place in Andalusia (one in four), while, when it comes to fatal accidents, 18.69% take place in the region (one in five).
Construction, with 22.22% more than last semester, and the services sector, with 20.69%, are the activities that report the most accidents. In the first of them, in addition, the mortality of the incidents has increased by 37.50%.
It is in the Sevillian province where more employees have lost their lives. In total, 16 people died in Seville, followed by 11 in Córdoba and 10 in the province of Málaga. However, according to the UGT-A report, it is Granada where these claims grow exponentially, 40% more than in the same semester of 2022.
On the other hand, Córdoba and Cádiz are the geographical points of the community where more people have perished in their jobs or going to occupy them, registering an increase of 66.67%.
Finally, from UGT-A they have endorsed what has been indicated in recent months and years, which is the underreporting of occupational diseases in Andalusia which, with 15.86% of the country's wage earners, only declares 4.87% of the total of occupational diseases that are declared in Spain in contrast to other autonomous communities, which, with less salaried population, declare up to four and five times more.
Most of the declared occupational diseases are due to physical agents, 83.55% of the total, and there is only one declared occupational disease caused by carcinogens, endorsing the invisibility of work-related cancer in our community.
By provinces, Málaga, Seville and Cádiz are those with the highest number of reported reports, with 194, 175 and 161 reports, respectively.
Finally, the union has indicated that on August 1 the Shock Plan against Occupational Accidents was signed, the result of the Social Dialogue and framed in the Social and Economic Pact for the Promotion of Andalusia, with which it is intended to give a substantial turn to the negative dynamics of accidents at work while we work together on the design of the III Andalusian Strategy for Safety and Health at Work, in which we will also propose measures that focus on improving safety and health of all workers.
