292 died in Spanish work accidents in the first half of 2019

SPAIN saw an average of 1.6 work-related deaths a day in the first six months of 2019 for a total of 292.

Data from the Ministry of Labour shows a continued decline in the fatal accident rate but also shows a significant increase in mortality in the construction sector.

Occupational health figures are notably better than a year ago. There are fewer fatal accidents, even though there are more people working. In the first half of the year there were 0.2 deaths per 100,000 people employed in the labour market, compared to the 0.26 seen in the same period last year.

Catalonia, due to the high proportion of services sector employment, is one of the autonomous communities with the lowest accident rates. In the first six months of the year, a total of 30 deaths were recorded in accidents at the workplace with a fatal accident rate of 0.15.

In Lleida, by contrast, the biggest employer is agriculture and the rate is 0.27 deaths per 100,000 employed.

Although nearly all economic sectors have seen a decline in the death rate, construction is the exception within the trend. The first six months left 52 people dead in the industry, nine more than last year. The fatal accident rate rose from O.7 per 100,000 people in the first six months of 2018 to 0.8 in the same period this year.

Although the overall death rate fell, there were 3.7 per cent more non-fatal accidents where people had to miss work, a total of 310,130 to the end of June.