Η οικονομική διάσταση της υγείας και ασφάλειας στην εργασία: το κόστος των εργατικών ατυχημάτων στην Ελλάδα.
The economic dimension of health and safety at work: the cost of occupational accidents in Greece.
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Subject
Εργασία και εργαζόμενοι -- Υγεία και υγιεινή ; Βιομηχανική ασφάλεια ; Υγιεινή της εργασίας ; Οικονομικά της υγείας ; Εργατικά ατυχήματαAbstract
The economic analysis of Health and Safety at Work (HSW) is not very frequent as this is a subject that is usually approached socially and not economically. The danger is part of every human productive activity. Therefore, the economical dimension of this subject cannot be ignored and the research and the analysis of it can lead to conclusions that can really contribute in resolving this situation. The cost of the accidents at work, the professional diseases and the prevention of both of them, is fundamental in the economical analysis of HSW. One dimension of this cost is whether it is economic or non economic - this depends on if the cost can be expressed in numbers or not. Another dimension of the cost is if it is private or social. This refers to who is responsible of it. In some cases it should be covered by the individuals and in some others by the state. The enterprises, where the occupational accidents and diseases take place, are an important parameter in this analysis. The most frequent HSW evaluating method is the Cost – Benefit analysis. Even though some researchers are sceptical about it, this analysis is very important as the results of it can very easily be expressed in numbers. On the other hand the implementation of this method is not very easy as the calculations are not simple and subjectivity cannot easily be avoided. The state can only make improvements regarding the HSW through the legislation that involves the businesses and the employers. This is the way that provides the necessary motives (economical or not) in order new investments to be made in prevention of occupational accidents and diseases. The calculation of a country’s cost that involves the occupational accidents and diseases is not simple as the numbers are bigger than those of an enterprise and there are many different parameters that make this procedure more complicate. Of course there are some studies that have managed to take into consideration the many different characteristics of one country and get some conclusions about the cost of the occupational accidents and diseases in it. But there is no specific method that could be used in all the countries. The European Comission in the context of the European Strategy of Occupational Health and Safety 2002-2006, made in 2004 through Eurostat a pilot – model of calculating the cost of the occupational accidents and diseases in it. This model was made to provide all the necessary information regarding the total cost of the occupational accidents and diseases and clarify how important the effective prevention of it could be to the society and the enterprises. The result of the implementation of this model regarding Greece showed that during 2006 the cost for the enterprises from the absence of their employees because of an occupational accident was more than 255 millions euro.