Brasília - On the occasion of National Job Accident Prevention Day, commemorated yesterday (28) in Brazil, the Director of the Social Security Department of the Ministry of Social Security, Geraldo Arruda, declared that nearly 100% of workplace accidents are preventable. "All that is needed is to implant adequate prevention mechanisms," he adds.

According to him, the Ministry is organizing a document intended to gather information and statistics on workplace safety. "Companies will be expected to furnish information on risk factors and consequences, to form a data bank that will provide a foundation for government policies in this area," Arruda explains.

Another measure instituted by Social Security officials, according to the Director, is to reduce the tax burden on firms that present decreases in the levels of job accidents. "The companies that show a good performance can diminish their tax rates by as much as 50%," Arruda exemplifies. "Those that produce more ailing people pay more, and those that produce fewer pay less in taxes, as a result," he adds. In the Director's opinion, "this will be a big incentive for firms to invest in workplace accident prevention."

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the statistics on work-related deaths and accidents around the world show that almost 2 million workers die on the job each year. This figure translates into nearly 5 thousand deaths daily, or three per minute. The study also reveals that approximately 270 million workplace accidents are recorded each year.

According to data from the Brazilian Social Security system's statistical yearbook, 388 thousand job accidents were registered in 2002, 14% more than in the previous year. Typical workplace accidents account for 83% of the total; accidents on the way to or from work represent 12%,; and work-related diseases, 5%. The figures also show that job accidents caused 2,900 deaths in 2002. Another 15,029 workers were left with permanent impairments keeping them from exercising any kind of productive activity. Still, these numbers may be considerably larger in reality, because they refer only to workers who occupy formal positions in the workforce.

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the absence of workplace security kills more people than drugs and alcohol combined. The sectors with the most precarious safety conditions all over the world are agriculture, construction, and mining. But in Brazil, the greatest number of accidents occur in a job category that is on the rise: motorcycle delivery boys.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Bianca Estrella
Translator: David Silberstein
07/28/2004