WRITTEN QUESTION E-0258/98

by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission

(13 February 1998)

Subject: Occupational and general disability

All the EU Member States are naturally interested in maintaining their gross national product. This can only be achieved if adequate precautions are taken in the field of health, consumer and labour protection.

1. Will the Commission say: are occupational and general disability increasing in the individual Member States?

2. If so, what steps does it intend to take to check this trend?

Supplementary answer

given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(19 May 1998)

Further to its answer of 17 April 1998(1), the Commission is now in a position to communicate the following information.

1. The Council has adopted a number of directives, based on Article 118a of the EC Treaty, allowing the introduction of measures to encourage the Member States to improve the safety and health of workers at work. The first of these, framework Directive 89/391/EEC(2), covers all sectors of activity, both public and private, and requires employers to keep a list of accidents resulting in a worker being unfit for work for more than three days (Article 9).

On this basis and on the basis of the information provided by the Member States, the Commission draws up harmonised statistics. According to the Commission's latest data on accidents at work at European level(3), the number of accidents at work resulting in more than three days' absence is estimated at almost five million in 1994 in the Community as a whole, which is much the same as in 1993. Moreover, there were 6 423 fatal accidents at work in 1994 in comparison with 6 316 such accidents in 1993, which is an absolute increase of 1.7 %. Nevertheless, the frequency index for fatal accidents per 100 000 persons in employment, irrespective of the level of activity, has in fact improved since it was 5.3 in 1993 against 4.9 in 1994. The frequency is one fatal accident per 7 000 workers in construction, agriculture and transport (branches of activity considered high-risk), and one per 16 000 for all branches of activity.

Thus, in view of the increase in the population in employment in the 1993-1994 period, the indices show that the situation for accidents with an absence of more than 3 days has stabilised, whilst it has improved for fatal accidents.

A more comprehensive analysis could be made later, once the data for 1995 have become available in the coming months.

With regard to permanent invalidity, the Commission currently has no harmonised information at European level.However, in Eurostat's 1994 European Community Household Panel (ECHP) survey, a harmonised source, when asked whether they were "hampered in daily activities because of chronic conditions" almost 8 % of the European population aged 16 years and over (EUR 12) reported being "severely hampered in their daily activities by a chronic physical or mental health problem", and 16 % felt hampered "to some extent".

With regard to the benefits paid, and taking into account the differing evaluation criteria and reimbursement systems (public or private) from one Member State to another, disability represented 8 % of the total social protection benefits paid in 1995(4) at European level in general, which is equivalent to the expenditure on unemployment and family allowances.

Following the analysis of the national data available on early retirement due to reduced work capacity (Denmark, Ireland, Austria, Finland and the United Kingdom), it has been observed that within these five Member states there is an upward trend, ranging from slight in Denmark and Ireland, to more pronounced in the United Kingdom and Finland, and very strong in Austria. As for Belgium, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden, information is either insufficient or unavailable.

2. The downward trends which can be observed in the field of accidents at work demonstrate that the Community policy in the area of prevention of occupational risks has started to bear fruit and that it is important to continue developing its potential.

(1) OJ C 304, 2.10.1998, p. 63.

(2) OJ L 183, 29.6.1989.

(3) Source: Eurostat "Statistics in focus" - Population and social conditions.

(4) Eurostat "Conditions in Europe" - Selected Social Indicators - December 1997.