Net of Covid infections of professional origin, fatal accidents at work have increased – last year – by almost 10%, traditional accidents by 20% and occupational diseases by 22.8%. With the annual report read by President Franco Bettoni, Inail directly raises the alarm on security. “The resumption of production activities after the pandemic must continue in accordance with the primary need to guarantee health and safety in the workplace” warned Bettoni. Illustrating to the presidency of the Chamber of Deputies, to the Minister of Labor Andrea Orlando and to the other authorities present the trend of accidents and occupational diseases, the activities carried out, the economic results achieved and the strategic objectives for the future starting from the controls on the construction sites of the Pnrr, Bettoni quoted the Head of State, who has repeatedly recalled the need to eliminate deaths at work, underlining that “Inail is ready to do its part, increasing investments in safety and making use of the progress made in these years of scientific research “.
Focus sul Pnrr
In this context, the most important initiative, aimed at guaranteeing the centrality of safety, concerns the launch of structured and permanent collaborations with companies or large industrial groups in the country engaged in the execution of the individual interventions envisaged by the Pnrr, starting from from the pilot agreement reached with the FS, a group that will have a central role in the realization of the works envisaged by the Plan with a total investment of approximately 15 billion euros, an agreement destined to lead the way for further collaborations with other large groups, with the ‘goal of “making the sites connected to the Recovery Plan the largest laboratory in Europe of innovation and research for safety”.
Injuries and deaths
As regards, in detail, accidents and illnesses, in 2021 just over 564 thousand accidents at work were reported to Inail, down by 1.4% compared to the previous year. This decrease, however, is due exclusively to the contraction of professional infections from Covid-19, which went from almost 150 thousand in 2020 to about 50 thousand in 2021. In 2020, in particular, the average incidence of new Coronavirus reports on the total accidents reported was one in four, while in 2021 it fell to one in 12. The reports of “traditional” accidents, net of Covid-19 cases, in 2021 instead recorded an increase of about 20% compared to 2020. In fact, 349,643 accidents were recognized at work, 17.5% of which occurred “outside the company”, that is, “during work with means of transport” or “in itinere”, on the outward and return journey between home and workplace. The recognition percentages of the Covid-19 component are high, equal to about 88% in 2020 and 70% in 2021, but it is important – reports Inail – to keep in mind that for the final definition of the consequences of an accident in terms of impairment, and even more so for those from occupational contagion, an adequate period of time is required for the stabilization of the after-effects.
On the other hand, there were 1,361 reports of accidents with a fatal outcome, with a decrease of 19.2% compared to 2020. But as for accidents, in this case too the contraction is entirely linked to the deaths caused by the Covid-19 infection, which have passed from about 600 in 2020 to about 200 in 2021. In 2020, in particular, the average incidence of deaths from Covid-19 on the total of all reported fatalities was one out of three, while in 2021 it dropped to one in six. The reports of “traditional” fatal accidents, on the other hand, increased by almost 10% compared to 2020, both in the component “during work” and in the “in itinere” component. There are 685 fatal accidents ascertained at work, of which 298, equal to 43.5% of the total, occurred “outside the company” (57 cases are still under investigation).
Professional diseases
The analysis of the 2021 data also shows a significant increase in reports of occupational disease: work-related diseases reported to the Institute were just over 55 thousand, up 22.8% compared to 2020, over 38 thousand workers sick of which 40.3% for recognized professional causes (948 those with diseases caused by exposure to asbestos). Workers who died in 2021 with recognition of occupational disease were 820, 23.6% less than in 2020, of which 154 for silicosis / asbestosis.
Benefits and incentives
Also in the course of last year, Inail provided approximately seven million health services for accidents and occupational diseases, while the services for “first care” carried out at the Institute’s 120 clinics totaled over 523 thousand, with over 139 thousand rehabilitation services provided from the various Inail centers. In favor of companies, through the Isi incentives, from 2010 to date approximately 2.8 billion euros have been allocated to non-repayable funds and more than 36 thousand projects have been admitted for financing to improve the levels of health and safety in the workplace . In 2021, about 26 thousand companies submitted applications for a reduction in the rate of the tariff for prevention merits, documented with interventions carried out in 2020, with an overall decrease in the premium for virtuous companies of approximately 150 million euros.