Work Accidents in Spain after the last Legal Reforms

In 1998, Spain led the ranking of occupational accidents in the European Union, accounting for 30% of the total. The highest incidence occurred among young people (16-19 years), and for workers with less than one year at their jobs.

As a consequence of the European Union Directive on the prevention of occupational accidents, a new legal framework was published in Spain in 1995. From 2005, a shift in the evolution of the historical series of accidents at work began to be observed, albeit with significant differences among regions.

This paper quantifies the effects of legal reforms introduced in 1995. Our hypothesis is that the reform has had a positive impact on the prevention of occupational hazards. We also try to confirm whether workers' age, business size, and employment conditions remain the primary structural causes of workplace accidents. Finally, we will check for significant differences in the behavior of Spanish regions.

To accomplish this, by means of panel data model techniques, two different econometric estimates have been made, the first with aggregate data for the whole country from 1992 to 2010, and the second with regional data for the period 1999-2010.

In accordance with previous studies, the results confirmed that the regulatory change in the prevention of occupational hazards has had a positive impact on reducing workplace accidents. They also confirm the existence of distinct regional behaviors. Finally, we verified that the conditions of employment and job insecurity continue to be the principal structural causes of industrial accidents in Spain.