41 self-employed dead by June
In the first six months of the year, a total of 337 workers died in work-related accidents. The provisional data from the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy show a decrease of 57 fatalities compared with the same period in 2022, a decline of 14.5 percent. These numbers highlight shifts in the patterns of workplace hazards and the ongoing impact of occupational risks across sectors.
The leading causes of fatal incidents remain heart attacks and strokes, traffic-related accidents, entrapments and amputations, falls, and collisions with moving objects. These categories underscore the diverse risks that workers face, both inside workplaces and on the roads, during commute times and service delivery tasks.
Accidents that result in sick leave declined by 1.4 percent through June when compared with the previous year. In total, 306,007 accidents were recorded, of which 265,437 occurred at work (a 2.9 percent decrease) and 40,570 happened on the road, typically during commutes to or from work. There was an inter-annual increase of 9.9 percent in overall incidents, suggesting some volatility in exposure and reporting across the period.
Provisional figures indicate that fatal accidents during working hours fell by 13.4 percent up to June, totaling 277 deaths. This marks a reduction of 43 deaths from the same period in 2022. By contrast, road-traffic related deaths decreased by 18.9 percent, with a total of 60 fatalities, which is 14 fewer than the prior year.
Within working hours, the services sector recorded the highest fatalities at 147, an increase of 7.3 percent compared with January-June 2022. The services sector was the only major sector to show a rise in fatal accidents year over year; other sectors reported declines in fatalities.
The most notable drop appeared in the agricultural sector, which recorded 34 deaths, a 41.4 percent decrease. The manufacturing and construction sectors also saw declines, with 42 and 54 fatal accidents respectively, reducing the death toll by 23.6 percent and 22.9 percent in those areas.
Self-employed workers accounted for 41 of the fatalities by June, according to labor force statistics. In total, 337 workers lost their lives in work incidents by the mid-point of the year, with 296 salaried workers and 41 self-employed individuals. The number of self-employed deaths on the working day reached 40, down 5.3 percent, while on the road fatalities related to self-employment declined by 66.7 percent, signaling notable changes in risk exposure and travel patterns for these workers.
Ultimately, the self-employed group accrued 16,864 sick-leave work accidents through June, which represents a 1.3 percent decrease compared with the same timeframe in 2022. The distribution shows a 1.2 percent drop in accidents during official working hours and a 3.1 percent decrease in other work hours. Overall, provisional ministry data indicate 279,568 accidents occurred without sick leave through June, a 2.5 percent rise from the corresponding period in 2022, reflecting shifting dynamics in reporting and workplace safety measures across the economy (Ministry of Labor and Social Economy).