Occupational Accident Injuries in Spain: A Comparison Among Autonomous Communities in 1989, 1993 and 2000

Abstract

Background: Despite the incidence of occupational accident injuries in Spain being one of the highest in the European Union, this health problem has been research very little to date. This study was aimed at comparing the incidence of fatal and non-fatal occupational accident injuries by Autonomous Communities in 1989, 1993 and 2000. Methods: The occupational accident injury data was obtained from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and the denominators from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics. The incidence was calculated for fatal and non-fatal occupational accident injuries, adjusting separately by sex, age, business activity and type of contract, taking the Spanish average as a reference. Results: Catalunya and the Balearic Islands showed the highest relative risks of non-fatal occupational accident injuries. Regarding fatal occupational accident injuries, the Asturias and the Basque Autonomous Communities were the Communities where the relative risk was highest. Madrid and Catalunya, on the contrary, having showed the lowest RR for fatal injuries. Conclusions: The excessive risk of occupational accident injuries found in some Autonomous Communities can be explained, after partially ruling out the differences in the business activities and type of contract, either in terms of differences in the reporting of the occupational accident injuries and/or of the population at risk, or rather, in terms of differences in the working conditions at the companies in these Autonomous communities, which is the most plausible hypothesis. These differences must be studied further in greater detail.