Insurers report over 860,000 occupational and recreational accidents in 2019
For 2019, the 27 accident insurers in Switzerland reported 868,159 occupational and leisure accidents involving employed persons and persons seeking employment. The number of accidents thus increased by 1.5 percent compared to the previous year. The increase is due to the growing number of insured persons. Two thirds of the accidents occurred during leisure time.
In the mandatory accident insurance for employees and job seekers, the number of accidents in 2019 increased again compared to the previous year (+ 1.5 percent). The increase is slightly greater for occupational accidents at 1.8 percent than for leisure accidents at 1.6 percent. Accidents involving job seekers, on the other hand, decreased by 6.0 percent, which can be attributed to the good economic situation in 2019 and the declining unemployment rate. All accident insurers together paid around CHF 4.9 billion in medical expenses, daily allowances or disability pensions in 2018.
The most common accidents at work
The most frequent occupational accidents are still tripping accidents. Thereby 22 % of the accidents happen without an involved object. 20 % of the occupational accidents involving slipping or sliding occur on stairs, and in 10 % a load carried by the accident victim is causally involved. In 5 % of these cases, the weather has a decisive influence. The second most frequent cause is being hit by a foreign object. In 38 percent of the cases, these are small parts such as dust, splinters, chips or even liquids. They almost always injure the eyes. In third place in terms of frequency are stabbing, cutting or scratching injuries. The victims cut or stab themselves primarily with hand tools. In most cases, the hand is affected by injuries.
Noticeable influence of the lockdown on accident occurrence
The figures already available for the first half of 2020 from the 27 accident insurers show that both occupational accidents and leisure accidents decreased during the coronavirus lockdown from March to May 2020 compared with the previous year. Recreational accidents decreased slightly more than occupational accidents. This can be explained by the fact that it was no longer possible to ski or play football from mid-March.
Current evaluations by Suva show that since July 2020, accident figures have been roughly on a par with the previous year and are even higher for individual leisure activities. So far this year, there have been significantly more accidents while cycling, gardening and hiking or walking. The first detailed analyses of the influence of Corona on accident occurrence will be available in 2022.
Source: Suva
