During the first seven months of the year, work-related incidents led to 475 fatalities, reflecting a rise of 69 deaths, or 17%, when compared with the same timeframe last year, according to updated figures from the Ministry of Labor.
Among these fatal incidents, 386 occurred in the workplace, marking an increase of 57 cases or 17.3% from the previous year; 89 involved travel for work, commonly known as the in itinere category, which grew by 12 deaths, or 15.6%, from the prior year.
The causes included heart attacks, strokes, and other natural reasons that happen during the day. Notably, natural causes accounted for 152 fatalities, which is 27 more than in the comparable period of 2021.
Other causes also saw notable growth, with incidents such as entrapment and drowning each resulting in 15 deaths during the period.
By sector, services recorded the highest daily fatality count at 172, while agriculture showed the largest increase in deaths, tallying 62 and up by 33 compared with the same period in 2021. The construction sector reported 86 fatal accidents, an increase of 22.
From the total, 431 fatal incidents affected employees, with 44 affecting self-employed workers. By gender, the data show 368 men and 18 women experiencing a workday fatality.
Of the 89 people who died while traveling to or from work, 67 were men and 22 were women.
Union groups UGT and CCOO have publicly condemned the rise in occupational fatalities and are calling for rapid action plans to address the situation.
Overall, there were 362,993 sick leave days and work-related incidents recorded during the first seven months, representing a 14.4% increase over the same period in 2021.
Among these cases, 319,502 involved injuries requiring one day off, while 43,491 occurred during travel for work.
The majority of daytime accidents were minor, totaling 316,832, an increase of 15.9% from the previous year.
Conversely, 319,362 incidents occurred without any sick leave being taken, reflecting a 0.5% rise.