By 2023, Suva will record more leisure-time accidents than at work

Insured companies reported more than 490,000 accidents and occupational diseases to Suva last year – almost the same number as the year before. In general, more accidents occurred during leisure time than at work. In 2023, 61 percent of reported accidents occurred during leisure time and 39 percent at work.

“People nowadays invest more time in their active leisure time and that is why the number of accidents in the leisure sector is higher than in the professional world,” says Alois Fässler. “Other reasons include the ongoing prevention work in the field of occupational safety and health protection, as well as the decrease in jobs with a high risk of accidents, for example due to increasingly automated processes.”

The number of accidents at work and occupational diseases increased by 0.8 percent to 286,000 cases, accident insurer Suva announced on Tuesday. The number of recreational accidents increased by 0.7 percent to 292,000 cases.

“It is encouraging that the number of accidents at work and at leisure has remained stable compared to the previous year,” said Alois Fässler, statistician at Suva. “We suspect that the risk of accidents, i.e. the number of accidents per 1,000 full-time employees, has decreased slightly. This is because, according to the Federal Statistical Office (BFS), the number of employed people increased faster than the number of accidents in the first three quarters of 2023. We can provide more detailed information about this in the spring when the final figures are available.”

According to Suva, the number of people registered as unemployed and the number of people falling under the IV measures have decreased. And by 10.6 percent. This can be attributed, among other things, to the good labor market situation and the continued decline in unemployment. (pre/sda)