Work-site injuries last year lowest since 2018

THE number of work-site injuries in the public and private sectors last year was the lowest since 2018 – highlighting Bahrain’s positive safety culture, according to a new government report.

The latest Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) statistical report for Q4 2022 shows the exemplary health and safety record that covers Bahrainis and expats in the above two sectors.

It states that the total number of work-related injury cases during the entire year was 787 – 460 citizens and 327 expats.

Comparatively, the total number of such injuries recorded in 2021 was 805, 870 in 2020, 1,018 in 2019 and 1,037 in 2018.

As in previous SIO reports, more injuries were recorded in the private sector.

The Labour Ministry over the years has stepped up work-site inspections, alerted companies about alleged violations at work-sites and take action against rogue employers for flouting safety norms.

The SIO report states that during the last quarter of last year one Bahraini man in the public sector suffered from stress and fatigue, followed by one Bahraini man who was mentioned in the ‘death or suffered a disability’ category, 86 Bahrainis had work-site accidents, 29 Bahrainis were involved in road accidents and three suffered from occupational disease.

These numbers are much higher compared to non-Bahrainis with 24 suffering work-site accidents and three involved in road accidents.

Meanwhile, the data states that in the private sector 18 Bahrainis had a collision with moving machinery compared with six non-Bahrainis, followed by 15 Bahrainis colliding with other objects compared with nine non-Bahrainis while 12 Bahrainis were entrapped in comparison with 16 expatriates.

In addition, 34 non-Bahrainis fell from high places in comparison with 10 Bahrainis, while five Bahrainis were injured by hot objects in comparison to two non-Bahrainis, 17 Bahrainis had traffic accidents while seven non-Bahrainis were injured in traffic accidents and 11 Bahrainis were injured through heavy lifting in comparison to three expatriates.

The SIO report also highlighted that 12 Bahrainis suffered from tool cuts in comparison to 15 non-Bahrainis suffering from the same injuries, while 10 Bahrainis were cut by machinery in comparison to 13 non-Bahrainis.

Finally, six non-Bahrainis suffered from penetration of sharp objects compared to two Bahrainis while 151 Bahrainis suffered other injuries in comparison with 131 non-Bahrainis.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1196179/Work-site-injuries-last-year-lowest-since-2018