REDUCING WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS.

ADVICE FOR EMPLOYERS

Retrieved and edited from https://osha.europa.eu/en/topics/whp

Workers with disabilities

Disabled workers have to receive equal treatment at work. Health and safety issues cannot be used
as an excuse for not recruiting or not continuing to employ disabled people; for example, claiming that a
worker in a wheelchair cannot escape from a building in an emergency
or that a worker with impaired hearing cannot hear a fire alarm.

You will need to show, for example, having undertaken an adequate risk
assessment and sought competent advice from a specialist disabilities
organization, that there is a genuine problem that you cannot overcome.
This includes taking measures to accommodate the disabled person
such as transfer to another job.

Risk assessment and accident prevention measures have to take

account of individual workers differences. Separate risk assessment and training may be necessary for
disabled workers.

Accident prevention measures for persons with disabilities may also help to reduce accidents to all workers,
such as:
good lighting in the workplace

safe workplace access and exit

well-maintained pedestrian and traffic routes in the workplace

clear communication and good signing of hazards and risks in the workplace.

Young workers
National and European data suggest that young workers are at greater risk of workplace accidents.
Nevertheless, accident rates and causes of accidents vary between different sectors and occupations.

Young workers have lower overall fatal accident rates, but rates can be high in some sectors. Agriculture has
the highest incidence, followed by construction, transport and communication and manufacturing.

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Construction is the sector with the highest number of young worker fatalities. Fatalities in retail are also
increasing in some countries, accounting for a high proportion of fatalities among women in this sector.

Older workers
Studies indicate that although older workers have fewer accidents, their
injuries are often more severe and take longer to heal. Slips, trips and falls are the
largest cause of accidents across all sectors, from heavy manufacturing to office
work. While younger workers tend to get more eye or hand injuries, older workers
report more back injuries.

Older workers may find it harder to see or adjust focus in certain distance ranges,
have reduced peripheral vision, see things less clearly, find it harder to perceive depth or be more sensitive to
glare. They are also more likely to have other conditions that impair vision such as cataracts and retinal
disorders. These changes in visual capacity may increase the risk of accidents. Falls may be caused by poor
balance, slower reaction times, visual problems and lack of concentration.

Women
Overall, men have a higher accident rate, even after adjustments are made for fewer hours worked by
women. However, women tend to be concentrated in certain jobs and therefore face hazards particular to
those jobs. Continuous efforts are needed to improve the working conditions of both women and men.
However, taking a gender-neutral approach to risk assessment and prevention can result in risks to female
workers being underestimated or even ignored.

When we consider hazards at work, we usually think of men working in high accident risk areas such as
construction, and not of women working in, for example, health and social care. A careful examination of real
work circumstances shows that both women and men can face significant risks at work. It is therefore
important to include gender issues in workplace risk assessments.

Migrant workers
While there is increasing awareness of the crucial role played by migrant workers in the economic growth of
countries, greater attention needs to be paid to their employment and working conditions.

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The term migrant workers covers a wide range of people with different reasons for migration and varying
skills levels. Not all migrant workers are at risk, but there are three pressing occupational safety and health
issues:
high employment in high risk sectors

language and cultural barriers to

communication and safety and health
training

migrant workers often work a lot of overtime

and/or are in poor health and thus are more prone to occupational injuries and diseases.

Precarious workers
Precarious workers those who lack job security can be exposed to higher health risks. This type
of employment, which is becoming more common in developed countries and is widespread in developing
economies can also be defined by its characteristics such as temporary work, low levels of control over
work, lack of benefits and low income.

Studies have found that precarious employment is associated with deterioration in occupational health and
safety levels in terms of injury rates, disease risk and hazard exposures.

Maintenance workers
Many accidents, such as slips, trips and falls, happen because of a lack of
maintenance or as a result of poor quality maintenance:
multiple subcontracting of maintenance work makes OSH management
and sharing risk management knowledge difficult

carrying out maintenance under heavy time pressures can lead to

accidents.

How to create an environment for risk prevention improvements

The following tips can be very useful at the workplace in order to improve risk prevention strategies and
become more inclusive.

Participation of employees in the process of improving work organization.

Active involvement and consultation of employees in improving their work environment.

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 All measures aimed at enhancing wellbeing
at work, for example enabling flexible working
hours or working from home.

Raising the topic of healthy eating at work,

giving information on healthy nutrition as well
as offering healthy canteen food or facilities
to prepare own food.

Tobacco awareness, including the offer of free participation in smoking cessation programs as well as
declaring a comprehensive smoking ban at the whole company site.

Mental health promotion, offering courses for managers on how to deal with stress and tension within
their team, providing the opportunity for anonymous psychological consultancy for all employees.

Exercises and physical activity, offering sport courses, encouraging physical activity, promoting an
active and healthy culture at work.

Health monitoring, offering checks such as blood pressure or cholesterol level.