Acci­dents at work: what to do?

Annually, one in 800 Industrial Union members suffers an acci­dent while working. Death at work luckily enough, is fairly uncom­mon in Finland, but these sad events do happen on occa­sion. Accor­ding to the Finnish Workers’ Compen­sa­tion Center TVK, up until the middle of August this year six people had died at work.

15.9.2021

Three of these happe­ned on construc­tion sites, one at an assembly plant, one elect­rician death and one at a sawmill. In 2020, a total of 10 people died at work and seven while commu­ting between the home and workplace.

What should you do when faced with a serious occu­pa­tio­nal acci­dent? First, admi­nis­ter first-aid. Second, call the emer­gency centre at the number 112. Third, report to the employer.

If the acci­dent is not serious, stop working and go to the doctor. The insu­rance covers the expen­ses of the first visit regard­less of where you go. Inform the emplo­yer or collea­gues about the acci­dent in order to report it.

Repor­ting acci­dents is extre­mely impor­tant. It is the basis for possible compen­sa­tion, re-habi­li­ta­tion, inva­li­dity pension, official inves­ti­ga­tions and not least to get rid of the exis­ting dangers.

Though occu­pa­tio­nal safety is the respon­si­bi­lity of the emplo­yer, an emplo­yee must follow instruc­tions and use protec­tive equip­ment. If you see some deficiency, report it to the occu­pa­tio­nal safety repre­sen­ta­tive or super­vi­sor. Those who do the work are often best placed to notice problems in safety.

Though occu­pa­tio­nal safety is the respon­si­bi­lity of the emplo­yer, an emplo­yee must follow instruc­tions and use protec­tive equipment.

The number of occu­pa­tio­nal acci­dents in industry is going down. Last year, 13,823 occu­pa­tio­nal acci­dents happe­ned to industrial wage and salary earners. This is 11.5 per cent less than the year before – obviously partly due to the pandemic.

In compa­ri­son with the year 2005, the number of industrial occu­pa­tio­nal acci­dents has drop­ped 53.1 per cent. The total number of occu­pa­tio­nal acci­dents repor­ted in 2020 was the lowest ever in the history of compi­ling these statistics.

Industry has a repu­ta­tion for being a dange­rous place to work in, but accor­ding to the latest statisticsthat´s not actually the case. This is calcu­la­ted by the acci­dent frequency rate.

In 2020, this rate in industry was 27,5 occu­pa­tio­nal acci­dents per one million hours worked. The gene­ral rate in all profes­sions was 25. This diffe­rence is not so great. In the begin­ning of the millen­nium, the rate for industry was as high as 40–45.

The most dange­rous profes­sions are news­pa­per deli­very people and couriers, followed by construc­tion workers.

As always, the Union stri­ves to help and answers any of your ques­tions. Please contact them whene­ver needed: +358 20 690 449 (Working Envi­ron­ment and Social Secu­rity Advice phone service)

TEXT HEIKKI JOKINEN
ILLUSTRATION EMILIE UGGLA