UGT criticizes the fact that companies with fatal accidents receive discounts on fines.

BarcelonaDuring 2024, up to 108 people lost their lives at work in Catalonia. This is a 12% decrease from the previous year, but since 2013, 1,074 workers have already died in work-related accidents in our country. This Thursday, the UGT (Catalan Workers' Union) denounced the current reality of accidents in the Principality and the normalization of these tragedies as "an inevitable consequence of economic activity" with the publication of a report. The union has asked the Labor Inspectorate to prohibit companies where there has been a fatal work-related accident from receiving prompt payment bonuses of up to 40% of the fine. "Some employers say the fine costs them less than implementing safety measures," said Reyes Solaz, national secretary of the UGT (Catalan Workers' Union).

Last year in Catalonia, there were 206,941 workplace accidents, a slight decline of 0.6% compared to the 2023 figures. "We are stuck in the decline," warned the union leader. Of these accidents, 115,334 resulted in sick leave, an equally slight reduction of 0.8% compared to the 6.4% drop the previous year. Among the causes of workplace deaths, Solaz highlighted the incidence of non-traumatic pathologies, which accounted for almost 45% of the total. We are talking about causes such as heart attacks or strokes, which the union links to psychosocial risks derived from work "such as stress or anxiety."

For this reason, the Catalan Workers' Union (UGT) has insisted on the need to intensify workplace inspections, publish the names of offending companies, and modify the system of sanctions for non-compliance with occupational safety regulations. "Neither in Italy, nor in Germany, nor in France is there a bonus for prompt payment in cases of fatal accidents," Solaz lamented. Furthermore, they also demand that repeat offenders and those that continue to register high accident rates be excluded from these bonuses—and from public tenders. "We cannot allow this," the organization argues, ahead of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which is celebrated on Monday, April 28.

Occupational diseases are falling

Another of the UGT's battlefronts in this area is the under-recognition of occupational diseases. Last year, 2,559 were declared in Catalonia, which represents a reduction of almost 20%. "These are the mutual insurance companies that do not recognize them," Solaz pointed out.

In fact, they question the criteria used by private health insurers when deciding whether a work-related accident is minor or serious, a fact that would distort the data. Of the total number of accidents, 569 occurred during the workday and were considered serious accidents. in transit (17% more). This last figure has motivated the union to demand more driver training plans from companies: 33 workplace deaths occurred while the worker was traveling to or from work.

In this sense, the UGT also expresses surprise that there are only 5 reported cases of work-related cancer, when estimates from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) put the number of annual cancer-related deaths at around 9,500.