Belgium

Organization responsible for the statistics

Collection: Fonds des Accidents du Travail (FAT) (Fund for Occupational Accidents).

Compilation and publication: Institut national de statistiques (National Statistical Institute).

Periodicity

Compilation: variable; the FAT oversees the statistics and tables prepared by the Comité technique de la prévention (Technical Committee for Prevention).

Publication: annual.

Source

1) Occupational accident reports submitted to the Fonds des Accidents du Travail; and

2) Commuting accident reports submitted to recognized insurance providers granting compensation to victims of such accidents.

Objectives and users

To facilitate the study of occupational accidents with a view to their effective prevention.

Major users:

The statistics of the FAT are intended for the various committees, in particular the Comité technique de la prévention; those of the Institut national de statistiques are available to everyone.

Coverage

Persons:

Paid employees who fall within the scope of the Act of 10 April 1971:

any person subject to one of the social security schemes (including apprentices under contract, football players, artists, temporary workers, etc.);
shipowners who run their own ships;
certain categories of workers not included in the social security system, such as those performing occasional jobs (babysitters, governesses, etc.), domestic workers, students, fruit and vegetable pickers.

Self-employed workers are not covered.

Approximately 2,150,000 workers are covered by the Act.

Economic activities:

All economic activities and sectors except public services and the armed forces.

Geographic areas:

The whole country.

As regards persons injured in occupational accidents outside the usual country of residence, what matters is not the issue of residence itself, but rather, whether or not the person is covered by Belgian social security. Working in a foreign country poses the problem of labour detachment, which is a complex issue.

Establishments:

All types and sizes of establishments.

Types of occupational accidents covered

The statistics relate to compensated injuries due to all types of occupational accidents, including commuting accidents.

Data on occupational diseases are compiled and published separately.

Concepts and definitions

(Source: Act of 10 April 1971)

Occupational accident:

an occupational accident is characterized by the following:

a sudden occurrence;
due to (at least) one external cause;
an injury (either physical or mental);
an accident that occurs in the course of executing a work contract; and
arising out of the execution of same.

The law provides two statutory presumptions in favour of the injured person:

when the injured person shows proof - beyond the existence of an injury - of a sudden occurrence, the injury is presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have originated from an accident;
the accident that occurs in the course of executing a contract is presumed, unless proved otherwise, to have occurred as a result of same.

The worker is also considered to have been at the workplace, when:

he/she is performing a task, even outside work hours, in his/her capacity as union delegate or worker representative, with the express or tacit authorization of the employer;
he/she is attending a meeting of the shop council or safety committee;
he/she is attending a training course during normal working hours, with the express or tacit authorization of the employer.

Accident on the way to or from the workplace:

also considered occupational accidents are those occurring on the way to and from work, which is understood to mean the normal route the worker must take to get from his/her residence to the workplace, and vice versa. The normal route includes necessary and reasonably justifiable detours, such as sharing a ride with one or more other persons on the route between the residence and the workplace, or driving to pick up children at day care or school. The journey between the residence and the workplace begins as soon as the worker crosses the threshold of his primary or secondary residence, and ends as soon as he again crosses back over it. The Act also provides for situations in which workers are considered to be at the workplace, and has added certain journeys to the notion of the route to work (for example, the place where one takes one's meals, receives vocational training, or engages in trade union activities).

Temporary incapacity to work:

the loss or reduction of the capacity to acquire, by means of work, the income to meet needs in terms of food.

Permanent incapacity to work:

the loss or reduction of the earning potential of the injured person with respect to the general labour market; the extent of the incapacity is evaluated not only as a function of physiological disability, but also of age, occupational qualification, adaptability, possibility of occupational rehabilitation and ability to compete in the general labour market.

any injury involving the loss of body parts, or of an organ, such as the eyes (Source: Factories Act);
any injury that totally or partially incapacitates the worker for all work that he/she was capable of performing at the time of the accident, and which thereby permanently reduces his/her earning capacity for any job (Source: Workmen's Compensation Act).

Minimum period of absence from work: None.

Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury: one day.

Types of information compiled

(a) personal characteristics of persons injured: sex; date of birth; nationality; social security institution; usual place of employment; date of entry into service; occupational category; occupation;

(b) amount of worktime lost: number of days compensated;

(c) characteristics of accidents: accidents occurring on the way to or from work or at the workplace; whether the injured person was engaged in his usual occupation at the time of the accident; date and time; place; material agency; type of accident;

(d) characteristics of injuries: part of body injured; nature of injury; estimated duration of temporary incapacity; projected rate of permanent disability;

(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces: economic activity; number of workers; language used in the case.

Measurement of worktime lost

Worktime lost is measured in calendar days. It is compiled for all types of occupational injuries as follows:

temporary incapacity to work: on the basis of the number of days compensated;
permanent incapacity to work: as a projected percentage of permanent incapacity and as standard days lost, where relevant;
fatal injuries: in days preceding death, if applicable.

Absences of less than one day do not appear as such in the statistics.

Classifications

(a) fatal or non-fatal accidents;

(b) extent of disability:

accident without after-effects, accident with temporary disability, accident with permanent disability, fatal accident;

(c) economic activity:

according to the NACE Rev. 1;

(d) occupation:

occupational category: workers, employees, domestic workers, legislative amendments, occupation;

(e) type of injury:

nature of injury: fractures; dislocations; sprains and strains; concussions and other internal injuries; amputations; enucleations; other wounds; superficial injuries; contusions; crushings; burns; poisonings, other external factors; weather conditions, other external factors; asphyxia; harmful effects of electricity; harmful effects of radiations; multiple injuries of various types; other traumatisms; unknown;

location of injury: head: cranium region (skull, brain, scalp), eye, including eye socket and optical nerve; injuries not elsewhere classified; neck, including throat, nape and cervical vertebrae; trunk: back, excluding shoulder, shoulder, chest (ribs, sternum, internal organs of the thorax), abdomen, pelvis and hips; upper limbs: arms and elbows, forearms and wrists, hands, fingers; lower limbs: thigh, knee, leg, ankle and feet (excluding toes), toes; multiple body parts: trunk and head, head and one or more limbs, trunk and one or more limbs, upper limb and one or more lower limbs, other multiple body parts, unspecified multiple body parts; general injuries: circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system, nervous system; other general injuries; unknown;

(f) cause of accident:

type of accident;

(g) duration of absence from work;

(h) characteristics of workers:

sex; age (0 to 14 years, then in 5-year increments up to 79 years, 80 years and older); length of service in enterprise (less than one month, 1-2 months, 2-3 months, 4-6 months, 6-12 months, 1-2 years, 2-3 years, 3-4 years, 4-5 years, more than 5 years); nationality;

(i) characteristics of accidents:

time of day, in one-hour increments; day of the week;

type of accident: falls of persons: from heights or into depths, from the same level; falling objects: collapsing, crumbling, falling objects during handling, other falling objects; contact with objects: stepping on objects, contact with stationary objects, contact with moving objects (projection, foreign bodies); exertion, strenous movements, slipping without falling: during handling without power source, during any other circumstances; exposure to or contact with heat or cold; exposure to or contact with electrical current: high voltage, low voltage; exposure to or contact with harmful substances: contact by inhalation, ingestion of harmful substances, exposure to ionizing radiations, exposure to radiations other than ionizing radiations (infrared); other types of accidents not elsewhere classified; unknown;

material agency: machinery: mechanical, motor or generating risks; transmission machinery, tooling, shaping, or manufacturing machinery (nine categories), specialized agricultural machinery (three categories), mining machinery (two categories), other specialized machines and equipment; means of transport and lifting equipment: lifting machines and appliances (seven categories), means of rail transport (two categories), wheeled means of transport, exlcuding rail transport (two categories), means of water transport, other means of transport (four categories); other equipment: pressurized and depressurized equipment (five categories), furnaces, ovens, kilns and other heating installations, installations for the production and use of refrigeration, electrical installations, including electric motors (three categories), hand tools, instruments and implements (two categories), ladders, mobile ramps and step-ladders, scaffolding, other equipment not elsewhere classified; substances, radiations and materials: explosives, gases, vapours, and fumes, liquid and solid chemical substances, dusts, flying fragments and sparks, radiations (two categories), materials, working environments: traffic and working surfaces, floors, obstacles and openings in floors, stairs, ramps and steps, wind or lightening, underground working environments; other agencies: animals, other agencies not elsewhere classified, unknown;

(j) characteristics of employers or workplaces;

(k) other:

regions.

Crossclassifications:

all cross tabulations are computer generated.

Reference period

Year.

An injury is included in the statistics for the period (year) in which the accident occurred.

Worktime lost is recorded in May of the year following that in which the accident was recorded.

Estimates

Totals.

Averages.

Percentage distributions.

Rates of fatal and non-fatal injuries.

Historical background of the series

The statistics have been compiled since 1980; the FAT has been responsible for the data bank since 1990. No signficant changes have been introduced since that time.

Documentation

Series available:

The following tables are published:

separately for each occupational category: number of accidents, by:
- sex, economic activity and after-effects of the accident (incapacity, death, etc.);
- sex, age and after-effects of the accident;
- sex, size of enterprise and after-effects of accident;
- sex, nationality and after-effects of accident;
- duration of temporary incapacity to work;
- sex, day of the week and after-effects of accident;
- sex, month and after-effects of accident;
- injured part of body and after-effects of accident;
- nature of injury and after-effects of accident;
- agency and economic activity;
- economic activity and type of accident;
- sex, occupation and after-effects of accident;
Incidence rate, by:
- economic activity, after-effects of accident and worker or employee;
Frequency rate (workers and employees) by:
- economic activity and after-effects of accident;
Severity rate (workers and employees), by:
- economic activity;
for each occupational category: number of accidents occurring on the way to or from work, by:
- duration of temporary incapacity to work;
- sex, day of the week and after-effects of accident;
- sex, month and after-effects of accident;
- nature of injury and after-effects of accident.

Bibliographic references:

The data are published in:

Institut national de statistiques: Statistiques sociales - Statistiques des accidents du travail (annual).

Brief methodological notes appear in this publication along with the data.

Not all the data are published, but they can be made available on request, as extracts from the computer database, on diskettes or tape.

Data published by ILO:

The following data are furnished to the ILO for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to compensated occupational injuries (including commuting accidents since 1992) according to major division of economic activity: number of persons fatally injured, number of persons injured with lost worktime, total of these two groups; number of workdays lost by persons injured with lost worktime; rates of fatal injuries. The number of persons at risk (total number of insured persons) is also furnished and stored in the LABORSTA data base.

Confidentiality:

The data are processed and published in accordance with current legal provisions concerning confidentiality of personal information.

International standards

The international statistical standards and guidelines were taken into consideration when the statistical system was created.

Method of data collection

Legislation:

Act of 10 April 1971 on occupational accident and commuting accident compensation.

All injuries resulting from occupational accidents are covered by the compensation scheme. Accidents must be reported to the insurance provider or to the technical inspector within a period of ten working days following the accident. Compensation claims must be submitted within a period of three years following the date of the accident.

Reporting:

The employer (or failing this, the injured person or his/her beneficiary) is required to send the accident report to the insurance provider (or failing this, to the FAT). The medical certificate is then sent by the injured person to the insurance provider. There is an authorised form for the compensation claim.

Data reported:

The official form provides the following information:

characteristics of the accident: occupational accident or commuting accident;
information about the employer: name; address; economic activity; division, work site, or class and characteristics of ship where accident occurred; insurance provider; policy number; annual vacation fund; family allowances compensation fund; medical service at workplace or occupational physician; number of workers (workers and employees separately) employed by the enterprise at the end of the previous quarter; number of working days worked by the staff as a whole (workers and employees separately) from the beginning of the year until the end of the previous quarter;
information about the injured person: name; place of birth; sex; nationality; address; relationship to employer; civil status; language; registration number in personnel register; date hired; beneficiary of family allowances; national register number; occupational category; workshop, work site, section, service, department or division where the injured party usually works; usual occupation in the enterprise; length of service in occupational category, in enterprise, in workplace, in occupation; name and address of the mutual benefit society to which the injured person belongs;
information about the accident: day, date and time; day, date and time of the employer's accident report; normal working hours of the injured person the day of the accident: morning, afternoon; place of accident; indication as to whether at the time of the accident the injured person was performing work within the context of his/her usual occupation, and if not, what work he/she was performing; circumstances of the accident and agencies; agency; type of accident; name of person who took minutes and date of the minutes; name and addess of person in charge; name and address of insurance provider; names and addresses of witnesses;
information about the injury: name of person who administered first aid and date administered; name and address of attending physician; name and address of hospital establishment; nature of injury; part of body injured; after-effects of injury (death; no loss of working time; loss of working time: probable duration and dates; medical certificate attached to the accident report or to be forwarded); projected percentage of permanent disability;
information aimed at prevention: detailed description of circumstances and agencies relating to accident: place where was the injured person was working, his/her occupation, how the accident occurred, material agencies involved, prevention measures taken, or which should in future be taken to prevent occurrences of similar accidents.

Changes planned:

Not relevant.