83 people have died so far this year in work-related accidents.
The tally – covering the months of January to November is actually a marked improvement on totals for the same time last year (when 144 people died) and heaps better than figures for neighbouring Spain, where 292 people died in just the first six months of 2019.
In line with accidents everywhere, the majority of fatalities involve workers in the construction sector. Many of them relate to falls, explain reports.
Other ‘danger areas’ when it comes to work-related accidents are those of the transport and warehousing sectors.
The majority of this year’s accidents appear to have taken place ‘on site’ in “work installations”, with the areas of Lisbon and the Algarve responsible for the highest numbers (17 and 10 deaths respectively).
Bizarrely, press reports explain that “data shows that the smaller the company, the higher the number of fatal accidents”.
This year, fatalities appear to have struck foreigners working in Portugal more than Portuguese themselves, though there are still a number of the deaths (apparently 16) where the nationality is still “under analysis”.
Friday appears to be the day when most fatal accidents occur. Tabloid Correio da Manhã suggests this could be down to “fatigue”, particularly as in previous years Tuesday was the worst day for these types of accidents.
Since the data for January to November was published by ACT (the national authority for work conditions), there have been at least four further deaths through work-related misadventure – all of them, says CM, in the construction sector.
As for the victims, the majority this year – as almost always – have been men.
Age groups for the dead are varied, but the 45-54 year olds are those where fatalities are “most accentuated”.
Last year, the final total for work-related accidents came to 157.
