ILO: 3 million workers die every year from diseases or accidents

Work accidents and diseases related to the job cause the death of about three million people each year and injuries to another 395 million, a report from the International Labor Organization (ILO).

The study, published to coincide with the XXIII World Congress on Safety and Work that opens in Sydney (Australia), indicates that the majority of annual deaths (about 2.6 million) are caused by work-related diseases, while Workplace accidents cause around 330,000.

Work-related deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases represent a 32.3% of the total, while malignant neoplasms (tumors) cause a 27.5% of these deaths, respiratory ailments 14.2% and injuries in work accidents 11.2%.

The study also shows the main occupational risks that can lead to work-related deaths, the largest being exposure to long hours (more than 55 hours per week), which is estimated to have contributed to 744,000 deaths in 2016.

Next, others stand out, such as exposure to particles, gases and smoke in the air (450,000 deaths in the year studied), asbestos (209,000), or silicon (42,000).

The study indicates that occupational mortality is much higher in men (108.3 cases per 100,000 workers) than in women (48.4 cases), and indicates that a 63% Of these deaths are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, also the region with the largest active population in the world.

In order to stop these trends, the ILO has adopted the new Global Strategy for Safety and Health at Work for the period 2024-2030, with the objective of “promote, respect and progressively realize the fundamental right to a safe and healthy work environment”the organization highlighted in a statement.

The strategy rests on three pillars: improving national occupational health and safety frameworks, strengthening coordination, partnership and investment in this area, and optimizing management systems in workplaces, better adapting them to the specific risks of each occupation. .