Brasília, April 28, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - In 2002, on-the-job accidents in Brazil caused temporary injuries to 331,398 employees, left another 15 thousand permanently disabled, and were responsible for the deaths of 2,898 workers, victims of accidents and work-related diseases. To handle these cases, US$ 7.82 billion (R$ 23 billion) - the equivalent of 2.2% of the Brazilian GDP (Gross Domestic Product) - were spent to pay for compensation benefits, medical treatment, and professional rehabilitation, as well as legal suits.

These figures appear in the International Labor Organization (ILO) report presented yesterday (27) by the director of the organization in Brazil, Armand Pereira. The document alerts to the importance of improving working conditions to protect workers' health and lives. The study computed only the accidents and deaths of workers in the formal market, without considering the informal market, which is constantly growing in Brazil.

Pereira estimates that companies fail to report one in every two incidents (workplace accidents or deaths) to the competent authorities. "There are many situations in which a worker dies and the death is not registered as a workplace accident," he affirms. This is the case with traditional fishing, where a fisherman who dies in the boat is not declared a victim of an on-the-job accident.

Exposure to chemical substances, workplace violence, and respiratory ailments are sources of concern for the ILO, which commemorates the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, today.

Brazil, according to the report, exhibits an indiscrimate increase in the commercial use of chemical products. Exposure to asbestos and silica dust and other hazardous materials is responsible for the deaths of thousands of workers, some of whom don't reach the age of 30. Silica, present in the sand used in sectors such as construction, mining, marble cutting, and metallurgy, prompted the Brazilian government to formulate a National Plan for the Erradication of Silicosis, the disease caused by silica.

Pereira indicates the engagement of third party services as one of the factors compounding the cases of employee accidents and deaths, especially in areas like the maintenance of electric power lines.

Translator: David Silberstein