Work-related deaths have increased by 10% since 2002

[Edric O]

In a report presented this Sunday, the UN International Labour Organisation has published its statistics regarding work-related deaths worldwide. There are now 2.2 million such deaths per year, which represents a 10% increase since 2002.

See full story.

This is very shocking news. It shows that working conditions around the world, far from getting better, are in fact getting much worse. A 10% increase in work-related deaths over just 3 years is incredible. The effects of capitalist globalization are even worse than I thought...

[erjin999]

Maybe becuase unemployment has fallen ?  :-  Therefore, more people to have accidents with.

[Andrew]

Or maybe they are including china, which has too many coal mine deaths.

[Edric O]

Maybe becuase unemployment has fallen ?  :-  Therefore, more people to have accidents with.

According to the CIA World Factbook, there have been no changes in worldwide unemployment since 2002 (the 2002 factbook, like the 2005 factbook, states: "Unemployment rate: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment").

There has been some population growth, of course. In 2002 there were 6,233,821,945 people. In 2005 there are 6,446,131,400 people. That's a 3.4% increase. Not nearly enough to account for the dramatic rise in work-related deaths (especially when you consider the fact that the number of new workers has to be lower than the number of new people - there will always be less workers than total people).

Or maybe they are including china, which has too many coal mine deaths.

Of course they are. China has tens of thousands of coal mine deaths per year... which add up to only 1-3% of the 2.2 million work-related deaths worldwide. And Chinese miner deaths were included in 2002 as well.

[Caid Ivik]

Statistics. Perhaps between years 1976 and 1979 there was 23% growth in this matter, but in next years there was 55% decrease...

[Mahdi]

I really don't think you can diagnose a trend based on the differences between 2002 and 2005.

It may have simply been a bad year.

[Edric O]

I'm not the one giving the diagnosis - the ILO is. And Caid, I doubt there was ever a 23% increase in work-related deaths during ANY 3 year period. This isn't the kind of thing that can just fluctuate wildly up and down like that. 200,000 extra deaths is a lot.

[Mahdi]

Not when you consider a 6 billion population.

How many "woek related deaths" did the us army record last year alone, compared to 2002?

[Edric O]

Ummmm, actually, army deaths don't count...

[Caid Ivik]

I'm not the one giving the diagnosis - the ILO is. And Caid, I doubt there was ever a 23% increase in work-related deaths during ANY 3 year period. This isn't the kind of thing that can just fluctuate wildly up and down like that. 200,000 extra deaths is a lot.

Well, why not? It's a misfortune. Do you think that security standards for ie ukrainian mines have changed last twenty years? Or horse-taming techniques of uzbek nomads in last two centuries?