Collection and compilation:
Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales (IVSS)
(Venezuela Institute for Social Security)
.
Publication:
Ministerio del Trabajo (Ministry of Labour)
and Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros
Sociales.
Compilation:
Monthly.
Publication:
Annual.
(Occupational Health Directorate)(IVSS).
The statistics do not legally include all types of accidents since commuting accidents are not considered by Venezualan law to be occupational accidents and are therefore not covered.
Accidents occuring in temporary workplaces are, however, considered to be occupational accidents.
The statistics include occupational diseases, but these are compiled and published separately from occupational accidents.
all functional or bodily, permanent or temporary, immediate or subsequent injuries, or death, resulting from the violent action of an identifiable external force, arising out of or in the course of work. Also considered as occupational accidents are all internal injuries resulting from a strenuous effort sustained in the same circumstances (Source: Ley Orgánica del Trabajo, Title VIII, De los Infortunios en el Trabajo, Section 561, and Ley Orgánica de Prevención, Condiciones y Medio Ambiente de Trabajo, Title VIII, De las enfermedades y accidentes profesionales, Section 32).
accident or disease arising out of or in the course of work.
from a minimum of one working day of eight hours or more to fifty-two weeks, with possible extensions upon recommendation of the attending physician.
an injury leading to death as a result of a work-related activity, regardless of the date of the injury or the time transpired between the injury and the worker's death.
the temporary loss of faculties, or the incapacity to perform work for a period of time owing to illness or injury resulting from an accident.
injury, as distinct from death, that partially or permanently incapacitates a worker, even if affecting only part of the body, which prevent him from performing an activity carried out prior to the injury, or any type of remunerated activity after the injury.
the degree of probability that an occupational accident will occur. The IVSS divides enterprises into three categories, depending upon the prevailing degree of risk: minimum-risk, medium-risk and high-risk enterprises.
Minimum period of absence from work:
none.
Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury:
none.
(a) personal characteristics of persons injured:
sex, age, civil status, nationality, weekly wage, amount of time
in current job;
(b) amount of worktime lost:
convalescence time is not compiled for statistical purposes;
however, there are plans to do so in order to establish indices
of frequency and severity by enterprise;
(c) characteristics of accidents:
time, day, month and year, day of the week, occupation, agency
related to the accident, type of accident, unsafe act committed
by injured person, unsafe condition of the agency responsible for
the accident, total number of injured persons;
(d) characteristics of injuries:
part of body injured, type of injury, whether the accident is
minor, serious, or fatal; degrees of incapacity are not compiled
for statistical purposes;
(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces:
location of enterprise where the accident occurred.
Worktime lost for reasons of temporary total incapacity is compiled on the basis of the number of days granted by the physician, it does not include the day the injury occurred, nor the day the worker returns to work; permanent partial incapacity and permanent total incapacity are evaluated according to standard international tables contained in the ANSI Z.16.1 Standard and (Venezuela's ) COVENIN 474-89; fatal injuries are also evaluated according to the above-mentioned table.
Temporary absences of less than one working day for medical
treatment or first aid are counted as
injuries without lost worktime
as they do not amount to
eight (8) hours of lost worktime.
part of body injured:
head (eyes, skull, neck, face,
general injuries); upper limbs (fingers, hand, forearm, elbow, upper
arm, general injuries); trunk (chest, abdomen, back, ribs, spinal
column, general injuries); lower limbs (toes, foot, ankle, lower leg,
knee, thigh, general injuries); multiple locations; unspecified location
of injury.
agency:
machines (lathes, punch presses, saws, etc.);
prime-movers and pumps (motors, pumps, etc.); lifts and elevators
(electric, steam, etc.); lifting machines (cranes, derriks,
dredgers, etc.); transmission machinery (transmission belts,
gears, chains and other elements); boilers and other pressure
vessels (heaters, etc.); means of transport (motorized, animal-
drawn, water transport, air transport, etc.); animals (domestic,
insect, snake, wild, etc.); mechanical energy transmission
devices (axles, motors, etc.); electrical equipment (motors,
generators, conductors, rheostats, etc.); hand tools (axes,
woodcutters, chisels, clamps, etc.); chemical substances
(explosives, vapours, fumes, etc.); burning or highly inflammable
substances (varnishes, vapours, etc.); dusts (explosives, organic
and inorganic, asbestos, etc.); radiations and radioactive
substances (radium, x-rays, etc.); working surfaces not elsewhere
classified; other agencies (ladders, trap doors, etc.); agencies
not classified for lack of sufficient data; unknown;
unsafe equipment
: ill-protected agencies (lack of protection
or insufficient protection, etc.); defective agencies (rough,
slippery, sharp, etc.); imprudent installations or acts, specific
or similar agents; inadequate lighting (lack of light, glare,
etc.); inadequate ventilation (impure air, etc.); inadequate
clothing or equipment (lack of protective gear); defective
equipment or unclassified conditions; defects not classified for
lack of sufficient data; absence of defective agencies; unknown;
type of accident:
striking against object (full contact,
superficial, cutting and rough); struck by object (falling,
turning, sliding, moving); caught in or between two objects; fall
on the same level; fall from height or into depth; slipping
(without falling) or distension (sprain, hernia, etc.); exposure
to extreme temperatures (burns, scalds, etc.); inhalation,
absorption, ingestion (excluding contact with extreme
temperatures); contact with electric current (electrocution,
shock, etc.); other types of accident, not classified elsewhere;
accidents not classified for lack of sufficient data;
causes of imprudent acts:
lack of experience, failure to take
necessary precautions; performing a job or operation at a
dangerous speed; acts that disable precautionary devices; use of
inadequate equipment, using one's hands, using equipment in an
unsafe manner; lack of precaution in loading, hanging, mixing
materials, etc.; unsafe position (under suspended weights, etc.);
work performed in dangerous or moving installations; lack of
attention to work, practical jokes, ridiculing others, etc.;
failure to use protective clothing or personal safety devices;
unsafe acts not classified elsewhere; acts not classified for
lack of sufficient data; elements of personal unsafeness:
improper attitude (failure to observe instructions, nervousness,
etc.); lack of knowledge and skill (ignorance, safety norms,
etc.); physical deficiencies (poor eyesight, hearing, fatigue,
etc.); factors relating to personal unsafeness not elsewhere
classified; personal unsafeness not classified for lack of
sufficient data; absence of elements of personal unsafeness; not
reported;
Injuries are included in the statistics for the period in which they occurred, without regard to when they were reported, unless more than five years later, at which point entitlement may no longer be claimed according to the Ley del Seguridad Social.
Worktime lost due to injury is not currently recorded for statistical purposes.
Percentage distributions are determined for each of the items mentioned previously.
Indices of incidence for every thousand workers are calculated.
Rates of fatal injuries and of non-fatal injuries are calculated.
The initial purpose of compiling data was to maintain records of all injuries, carry out risk prevention campaigns, particularly in the construction industry, and record information concerning compensation.
There have not been any changes.
Number of accidents by:
Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales, Dirección
General de Planificación, Programación y Presupuesto, División de
Estadísticas: Anuario Estadistico
(annual).
Ministerio del Trabajo y del Instituto Venezolano de los
Seguros Sociales: Síntesis Estadisticas
.
Methodological notes for the statistics are not published as such. The COVENIN 474-89 standard, currently under revision, contains a detailed methodology for compiling statistics at the enterprise level.
All data are published.
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to reported injuries according to major division of economic activity: total number of persons injured from 1986 to 1989, and in 1993 and 1994.
When the concepts, definitions and methods used to compile statistics were established or revised, consultations were held with the users of such guidelines, who commented upon the content of same.
The employer is responsible for filling out and sending notification to the Oficinas de Control de Accidente of the Instituto Venezolano de los Seguros Sociales within three working days following the date on which the incident occurred. Failure to send notification is subject to sanctions as stipulated in sections 87 of the Ley del Seguro Social and 174-182 of the Reglamento General.