Workplace accidents cost Greece more than one billion Euros per year, without including the treatment and permanent disability benefits costs, said the Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis at the European Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Conference held at the Zappion building in central Athens on June 16.
Mr. Vroutsis informed the conference participants that the global cost of workplace accidents reaches 4% of the global GDP, representing what he called an “unacceptably high cost, with direct negative repercussions on social insurance spending and measurable losses in productivity.”
Furthermore, he added that at a European level, more than 4,000 employees have lost their lives as a result of work accidents, whilst more than three million had a serious accident at work that led to their absence for more than three days.
The minister indicated that investing in health and safety in the workplace will increase competitiveness, while the investments will be financially “safe,” since they can yield very high returns that on average, were 2.2 times the amount spent.
Finally, noting the prevention of working hazards was a strategic goal of the European Commission, the Labor Minister emphasized on “three major challenges identified by the European Commission for 2014-2020: the implementation of rules for health and safety in the workplace, preventing professional ailments and formulating policies that take into account the aging of Europe’s labor force.”
(By Dimitra Paganopoulou)
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