Tomorrow is not 13, but 29 ... But it is Tuesday, the day of the week in which the statistic points out as the most fateful to suffer an accident in the car when you go to your workplace between eight and nine in the morning. And we are still in October, the key month of accidents in the fall - the most dangerous season in terms of road safety - for more inri with the change to the newly implemented winter time .

Therefore, a report published by the RACE advises to open your eyes a little more than usual this Tuesday at the time of entry to work. And, if possible, join 13% of workers who make the work journey in public transport, with an almost imperceptible incidence in the figures of injuries and sick leave.

The encirclement of the threat can be narrowed further. The maximum risk profile is that of a woman between 16 and 29 years old who travels through Andalusia, Catalonia or Murcia and moves from her home to the workplace, especially if she belongs to a company with more than 250 employees and has been working in She barely half a year .

This concrete, anecdotal but important alarm is the conclusion of the statistics compiled by the RACE in its I Report on Road Safety in Spain, in collaboration with GAD3 and based on data from the Ministries of Labor and Health, of the National Statistics Institute , the DGT, the European Commission and EUROSTAT. Supported with surveys of 2,000 selected people , including specialists in Occupational Risk Prevention of Spanish companies, freelancers and workers.

But occupational road accidents - both when traveling from home to work and vice versa and throughout the day due to professional needs - do not exclude any sex or age group . There are also many accidents in which the driver is a male between 16 and 29 years old and is involved in an accident during a mission during work hours . However, 70% of claims occur 'in itinere' , the displacement to enter or exit before and after the day, while those that occur on mission are 30%. Another interesting fact is that there are significantly more accidents on the way (64%) than on the way back (36%).

The study has dived into the occupational accident rate data since 2008, which would represent between 11 and 12% of the total occupational accidents that have occurred in Spain during that period of time. Unfortunately, the road factor is the one that leads mortality statistics among occupational accidents , 38% of the total.

The casualties of accidents in a year are around half a million and 69,000 correspond to traffic accidents , according to the RACE, which shows its concern about the continuous increase of this last figure since 2013, which has made us go back to previous figures to 2010.

In addition to the terrible balance of injuries or deaths, there is the economic cost that companies face this daily bleeding. According to the RACE, the casualties due to road accidents account for about 2,000 million euros per year , of which 100,600,056 euros responds to Social Security. The average cost of each minor accident with casualty amounts to 17,900 euros, a serious accident costs 237,800 euros the serious one and one with the consequence of death, 1,913,000.

Surveys published in the report indicate that employed persons blame the accident rate for stress and haste , fatigue and mobile phone use (66%). Self-employed workers add 73% of the danger posed by long working hours. According to the former, an aid to the inspection and maintenance of the vehicle could solve part of the problem, together with incentives for public transport and the promotion of teleworking . Self-employed workers ask for help to equip vehicles with the best safety systems and driving assistants.

On the other hand, two out of three companies consider that it has improved in recent years, despite the fact that the figures say otherwise. Only 27% of workers receive training in road safety, for the 60% they prepare to react to fires and evacuations, which cause 4,000 casualties annually due to 69,000 of work traffic accidents. 78% of those responsible for Occupational Risk Prevention exempt companies from 'in itinere' accidents, which are, according to them, the responsibility of workers for rushing, distractions with mobile phones and violations of traffic regulations . As solutions to reduce the cost of sick leave for this reason, they aim to increase training in road safety (85%), prevention of risks within the company (82%) and teleworking (76%).

The recipes proposed by the RACE to alleviate this 'disease' are aimed at both workers and companies and the Administration. The former ask attention to the correct maintenance of the vehicle , know and avoid major reasons for distractions (especially mobile) and request training in road safety. For companies, make schedules more flexible, encourage teleworking, avoid long hours and a 'call free' period before and after work. In addition, an 'in itinere' prevention plan for new hires , promotion of shared vehicles, parking spaces and company shuttle buses, financing for public transport and appointing a mobility manager within companies. Finally, the Administration should, according to RACE, increase bonuses to companies for low accidents and also to workers and companies to renew their mobile park; increase the capacity of Labor Inspection in the area of ​​road safety, improve infrastructure, adjust greater coordination between administrations and consider displacement 'in itinere', disseminate the problem and disseminate statistics on this problem, with prevention plans and mobility aid, especially for freelancers and SMEs.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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