Claims in respect of non-fatal accidents at work increased by 5.3 per cent in the second quarter when compared to the corresponding period in 2011. Two fatal accidents at work were reported.

Administrative records indicate that 816 persons had an accident during the course of their work during the second quarter this year. Accordingly, the number of accidents during this period increased by 41 (5.3 per cent) over the corresponding period in 2011. The majority of victims, 85.2 per cent, were men.

Just under a quarter of non-fatal accidents at work occurred in manufacturing. Other economic sectors where occurrence of accidents resulted to be very common were construction (17.2 per cent) and transportation and storage (10.9 per cent).

When compared to the corresponding period last year, the number of accidents went up by 10 in manufacturing, but decreased by 5 in construction. The number of accidents in transportation and storage remained unchanged. Most of the accidents at work during the quarter under review involved persons in elementary occupations and crafts and related trades workers.

In the majority of cases accidents occurred to persons aged 25-34 (25.8 per cent). These were followed by the 35-44 year old age group. Wounds and superficial injuries, and dislocations, strains and sprains were the most common types of injuries, amounting to 378 and 210 cases respectively. In terms of parts of bodies injured, accidents affecting the upper and lower extremities made up 62.2 per cent of all injuries.

Between April and June, the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA) reported that there were two fatal accidents at work, one of them in agriculture and the other in construction. During the corresponding period last year there was one fatality at work.

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