Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Friday, February 14, 2025 at 13:03 Updated 13:10h.
In Spain, the rate of workplace accidents continues to increase year after year. In 2024, the number of deaths due to workplace accidents increased by 10,4%. Nine out of 10 cases were men. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Labour Thursday, 13 February, 796 workers died while working or commuting, compared with 721 in 2023.
The number of fatal accidents is far greater than the number of injuries, which has increased by 0.5% in comparison to last year. The CC OO Workers Union estimates that the number of deaths will increase to “well above” 800 once the consolidated data becomes available. The industries and services have seen the highest increase in occupational mortality, up 18.8% and 12,7% respectively compared to 2023.
In itinere deaths, those that happen on the way to and from the workplace, rose by 7.1%. Those who are self-employed have seen a drop of 10.8% in deaths, while employees saw a dramatic increase of 12.8%.
According to statistics, the majority of fatal accidents are caused either by blows with objects (up 109%), by drowning in a fluid, which has increased by 20%, by entrapment or crushing, which have increased by 13.8%.
The figures show that the higher accident rate is also due to an increase in workers. Analyzing the data per 100 000 people employed shows that “the accident rate in working hours has decreased by 2.3%”. The most significant drop in the accident rate was in the mining industry (8%). Health and social services followed with 5.6%.
