Nearly 1,400 work accidents in third quarter

Nearly 1,400 accidents took place at work in the third quarter this year, a figure virtually unchanged from the same period last year, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

Of the 1,385 people involved in accidents, 1,251 were men and 134 women.

467 accidents (33.7 per cent) took place in the manufacturing sector, including the shipyards, while another 169 (12.2 per cent) took place in the construction sector.

Many accidents involved men in elementary occupations and craftsmen and tradesmen.

The women were mainly workers in elementary occupations and associate professionals.

Although in general accidents at work involve workers of all ages, younger workers tend to fall victims of accidents more often, the NSO said.

In accordance with the manual nature of the occupation of the workers concerned, many accidents affect the upper extremities of the body, including the shoulders, arms, hands and fingers.

There were no fatal accidents at work in the quarter under review.

As with last year, many claimants for injury benefit from the Department of Social Security came from the southern and northern Harbour districts.