Farmers’ risk of accidents at work has fallen clearly in ten years

Risk of accidents at work among own-account workers in agriculture, i.e. farmers, has fallen by ten per cent from 2002 to 2011. These data derive from Statistics Finland's occupational accidents statistics, in which two five-year periods were compared with each other. In the 2002 to 2006 period, farmers had 26,847 accidents at work resulting in at least four days’ absence from work, which is an average of 5,701 accidents per 100,000 farmers. In the 2007 to 2011 period, farmers had 21,016 accidents at work resulting in at least four days’ absence from work, which is 5,109 accidents per 100,000 farmers. The most recent occupational accident statistics contain data on the accidents at work of wage and salary earners and farmers in 2011.

Accidents at work and fatal accidents at work of wage and salary earners and own-account workers in agriculture in 2011

	Accidents at work	Accidents at work		Fatal accidents at work
		Resulting in disability of at least 4 days	Accidents at work resulting in disability of at least four days / 100,000 persons
Wage and salary earners	108 339	45 621	2 109	26
Own-accounts workers	4 515	3 861	5 048	4

In 2011, wage and salary earners had a total of 108,339 accidents at work for which insurance companies paid compensation. Disability of at least four days resulted from 45,621 of these accidents. The total number of wage and salary earners' accidents at work grew slightly from the previous year. The economic downturn in Finland in 2009 and changes in the number of hours worked largely explain the variation in the number of accidents at work during the 2008 to 2011 period. However, the number of hours worked among wage and salary earners is still over five per cent lower than in 2008.

The number of accidents at work resulting in disability of at least four days did not change much among wage and salary earners compared with the previous year (1.4%). When measured with the accident incidence rate, the risk of occupational accidents also remained on level with 2010 (0.3%). In 2011, a total of 2,109 accidents at work resulting in at least four days' absence from work occurred per 100,000 wage and salary earners. The corresponding ratio was 2,103 one year earlier.

As in earlier years, the work of own-account workers in agriculture, i.e. farmers, clearly continues to be more risk prone than the average work of wage and salary earners, as the accident incidence rate calculated for them is nearly 2.5-fold when compared with wage and salary earners. In 2011, the Farmers' Social Insurance Institution paid out compensation to own-account workers in agriculture for a total of 4,515 occupational accidents, of which 3,861 led to at least four days' absence from work.

The occupational accident proneness of own-account workers in agriculture measured by the accident incidence rate rose slightly from the year before (by 3.4%). In 2011, farmers had 5,048 occupational accidents resulting in disability of at least four days per 100,000 insured farmers. The corresponding ratio in 2010 was 4,882.

In 2011, a total of 55 persons died at the place of work or while commuting. Of these fatal accidents at work, 26 occurred to wage and salary earners, four to own-account workers in agriculture and three to other self-employed persons. In addition, 22 fatal accidents took place while commuting, of which 21 occurred to wage and salary earners and one to other self-employed persons than farmers. The number of fatal accidents at work fell clearly from the year before, as in 2010 a total of 61 persons suffered fatal accidents at work or while commuting.

Source: Occupational accident statistics 2011, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Arto Miettinen 09 1734 2963, Tarja Seppänen 09 1734 3220, tyotapaturmat@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

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Updated 20.6.2013

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Occupational accident statistics [e-publication].
ISSN=1797-9544. 2011. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ttap/2011/ttap_2011_2013-06-20_tie_001_en.html