Abstract

Work security is an issue to be solved in terms of legislation, but with due statistical knowledge of the phenomenon. Through the use of various indicators, and investigating about the level of homogeneity of available data, particularly at international level, this phenomenon can be analyzed by scientific method. The industrial structure of a country influences the total accident frequency rate: the standardisation of the industrial structure for NACE subsection or division, and not only for the aggregated activities, seems to be a useful tool for comparing international statistics. Asia is the continent where most accidents happen, particularly because it is the region of the world with higher number of employees. Italy has, thanks to progressive improvements during last thirty years, some accident levels apparently below the European average but the existence of a high black economy and the influence of organized crime in South Italy, which can prevent the reporting of accidents, push to consider our actual accident rate slightly higher than European average.