The workplace injury rate in 2018 was the lowest on record, but there was a spike in the fatality rate, according to data provided to this newsroom by the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OHSA).

With 1,400 injuries per 100,000 workers across all sectors, 2018’s injury rate represents the lowest number since the OHSA started recording data in 2002.  In that first year, the injury rate stood at over 3,500 injuries per 100,000 workers.

The data shows that it was the fatality rate in 2018 that saw a spike, compared to 2017. It must be noted, however, that in 2017, only one fatality was reported, equating to a fatality rate of 0.5 per 100,000 workers. By comparison, there were four reported fatalities in 2018, all of which were on construction sites.

So far this year there have been two fatalities on the workplace reported, Gauci said.

Less than two weeks ago, a 40-year-old Italian man died at a construction site in St Julian’s after falling from a height of three storeys.

However, data provided to this newsroom shows that the construction industry is not, in terms of a standardised rate, not the occupation in which most accidents occur.  It is the transportation and storage sector that has the highest injury rate – an unwanted accolade that it has had since 2015.

This being said, while the rate of injury in this area of economic activity has been falling steadily since reaching its peak in 2015, the injury rate for the construction industry has remained basically steady, with only minor fluctuations in either direction.

The same can be said for the injury rate in the accommodation and food services activities sector and the wholesale and retail trade sector, which includes the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles – the latter having remained more or less identical since 2015.

Speaking to this newsroom, OHSA CEO Mark Gauci explained: “Accidents can be classified into three categories: those which lead to injury or death of people (workers or third parties), those that lead to damage (property, equipment, machinery) or near misses (accidents which result in neither of the outcomes mentioned earlier.

“Essentially, only accidents that result in either a ‘major injury’ or death of workers are notifiable in terms of occupational health and safety legislation”, he said. He pointed out that a ‘major injury’ is defined as any of the following: fracture of the skull, spine or pelvis; fracture  of  any  bone  other  than  the  wrist  or ankle; amputation of a hand or foot; loss of sight of an eye or any  other  injury  which  results  in  the  person injured being detained in hospital for more than 24 hours other than for observation.

It is also an obligation on the part of the employer to notify the OHSA of any accident at work that results “in an employee being incapacitated  for  work  for  more  than  three consecutive days, excluding those days on which he is not expected to report for work,” Gauci noted.

In order to compare with the rest of the EU, one must use statistics issued by Eurostat – the European Union’s statistics body – as a reference point, said Gauci.  The average rate of fatal work accidents reported for the 28 member states is 1.88 per 100,000 employed, which is an average calculated over a period of THE five years from 2010 to 2014, inclusive. 

“During 2017, the fatal accident rate for Malta was 0.5 per 100,000 employed workers”, he pointed out.

There are two points that must be highlighted when comparing Malta’s statistics with those published by Eurostat, Gauci said. Firstly, the statistics concerning injuries at work compiled by Malta are more comprehensive than those published by Eurostat. This is because they include all injuries, irrespective of the length of time taken off work, as well as including injuries suffered by those who are self-employed.  In the case of the latter, self-employed people are not even covered by Occupational Health and Safety legislation in half the EU’s member states, neither are their injuries included in the official statistics published.

Secondly, the publication of gross numbers is “totally misleading” he said; in Malta a total of around 3,000 injuries are recorded every year, while Italy records just under half a million.

“These gross numbers allow neither comparisons between different countries, nor the identification of trends, and thus cannot be used to gauge progress or regression in the field”, he said.

“It is also important to highlight that statistical trends only become evident over a long period of time,” Gauci concluded.