ABSTRACT
In order to understand safety problems we must first analyze accident statistics. It is important to know how common certain accidents are, in which context they occur, and how they can be prevented. Despite strong developments in data collection methods, accidents statistics are still difficult to document, especially those that relate to work accidents. According to Eurostat figures, accident rates for the European Union have not changed significantly since 1996. There are 4.5 million accidents resulting in 146 million working days lost (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2002). Every year about 5500 people are killed in workplace accidents and about 3000 more are killed on their way to and from work.
