Work-Related Accidents Rise by 15%
In the first nine months of 2011, there were 2,727 reported work-related accidents - 358 more than last year during the same period.
The Labor Inspectorate said one of the reasons is a recovering economy, in which people are more easily employed without first having the necessary training and knowledge. Another possibility, the agency said, is that production has increased without an employment increase, analyst Krista Vaikmets said in a press release.
In the manufacturing industry, metal workers saw one of the highest rates of work accidents.
A recently released study, conducted by the Labor Inspectorate in 2009, found that 66 percent of workplace accidents in Estonia are muffled by employers.
Surveying 4,609 employees and employers from 1,332 companies, the study concluded that 2.4 percent of employees - 11,503 individuals - experienced workplace accidents in 2009.
However, only 2,939 accidents were reported in 2009.
Data from the agency also show that the proportion of light injuries grew from 70 percent in 2005 to to 79 percent in 2009 (and 77 percent in 2010).
Ott Tammik