France last in the class with regard to accidents at work: this is what pointed out on Radio Jthe ecologist deputy of Paris, Julien Bayou. “This government refuses to recognize the reality of work accidents. France is the champion, the red lantern if you prefer, in Europe on work accidents”, he said Thursday, September 15.
Julien Bayou is telling the truth: France is indeed a red lantern. This is shown by the latest figures available from Eurostat, which date from 2019, before the pandemic. France has the worst European ratio per 100,000 inhabitants when it comes to accidents and fatal accidents. In both cases, the French average is almost twice as high as that of the European Union.
Eurostat counted in France almost 800,000 accidents at work in our country in 2019, including nearly 800 fatal accidents that year, an average of two per day. If we take the figures from Medicare, it’s even more: more than 1,250 deaths including home-work accidents and occupational diseases.
Accidents at work concern a majority of men. They represent just over 60% of the victims. It is even worse for fatal accidents which concern 9 times out of 10 men.
Building is the most accident-prone sector, not far ahead of transport and food, which also concerns the food industry, retail trade or restaurant kitchens. Temporary workers too, whatever their sector, are more often victims of accidents at work
Apart from 2020, a special year because of the Covid and confinements, these work accidents have not decreased since 2010. The government at the start of the year had moreover announced a plan, focused on awareness and training, to try reduce these accidents. The plan targets in particular young people and new hires, because according to Medicare, a quarter of work accidents concern employees who have less than one year of seniority in the company.
How can everyone be better informed?
Participate in the consultation initiated as part of the European project De facto on the Make.org platform. Franceinfo is the partner