Statistics of the “Administrator of Occupational Risks Salud Segura (ARLSS)” reflect that during the year 2020, 40,145 workers affiliated with social security, suffered some type of work accident or occupational diseases.
Of this amount, 24,676 were men, while 15,469 were women, according to the data contained in the 2020 Sociodemographic Yearbook of the National Statistics Office (ONE).
These information indicate that the highest number of accidents and illnesses, occurred between the months of August and October, since in the eighth month of the year 4,248 were registered; in September there were 4,511 and in October 4,528.
Activities
The largest number of activities in which occupational risks were recorded was occupied by “Health and social services”, Representing 25.1% of the total number of injured, that is, 10,077 workers.
The second place is occupied by the “Transformation industry”With 8,699 workers, a representation of 21.7% of all occupational accidents that occurred during 2020 in the Dominican Republic.
The sector of “Trade and repair of automotive vehicles” Recorded 6,424 accidents, that is, 16% of the total.
Other work-related accidents were registered in the industries of accommodation and food, financial intermediation, transportation, storage and communications, production and distribution of electricity, gas and water, among others.
Of the total of 40,145 workers who suffered accidents and occupational diseases, 16,123 were office workers; 5,581 employees of the services and vendors of shops and markets; 4,562 were scientific and intellectual professionals; 3,180 mid-level technicians and professionals; 3,683 plant and machine operators; 2,138 officers, operators and craftsmen of mechanical arts and other trades; as well as 397 of the Armed Forces and 371 were farmers, fisheries and agriculture.
Provinces
The region with the highest number of workers injured or with occupational diseases was the Metropolitan (National District and Santo Domingo) with 16,600 people, 41.4%, followed by the Cibao Norte region that includes the provinces, Espaillat, Santiago and Puerto Plata, with 22.6%, that is, 9,092 accidents.
Age
Occupational accidents and diseases affected young workers the most, those who are between 20 and 29 years old, for a total of 12,952 cases, 32.3%.
The second group that presented a higher risk were those aged between 30 and 39 with 12,783 records, 31.8% of the total.
Differences
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), occupational injuries refer to any personal injury, illness or death that is the result of an accident within the workplace. Therefore, an occupational injury is different from an occupational disease, which is a disease caused by exposure over a period of time to risk factors derived from work activity.
The organization emphasizes that a work injury can be fatal (as a result of work-related accidents and when death occurs within a year from the day of the accident) or non-fatal, with loss of work time.
The ILO notes that, An average of 374 million non-fatal workplace injuries occur annually, worldwide resulting in more than four days of absence from work and 2.34 million people die due to accidents or occupational diseases.
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