Growing number of older workers suffering from deaths, injuries: report
Japan recorded the lowest number of work-related deaths in 2023, totaling 755, according to the latest Nippon Foundation (Nippon) report, citing the most recent data from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (MHLW).
However, the number of work-related injuries, both fatal and nonfatal, which cause an employee not to report for work for four or more days, is on the rise with a total of 135,371 cases recorded in 2023, or 3,016 higher than the previous year.
Meanwhile, in COVID-19 work-related accidents, four fatalities were recorded in 2023, or 13 cases fewer than in the previous years. There also has been a drastic drop in the number of COVID-19-related fatal/non-fatal injuries – from 122,352 to 33,637.
Unlike in the 1990s when annual work-related deaths peaked at more than 2,000, this number has been reduced by almost half, according to the report. On the other hand, Japan saw a gradually increasing number of fatal/nonfatal injuries, which forced workers not to report for work over four or more days, over the past decade, since it peaked at 105,719 cases in 2009.
Deaths, injuries in Japan by industry
By industry, the construction sector has recorded the highest number of deaths, totaling 223. This was followed by manufacturing with 138 work-related deaths, and land freight transportation, including trucking, with a total of 110 deaths. In terms of the highest number of cases of fatal and nonfatal injuries, which resulted in absence from work for four days or more, the manufacturing industry snatched the top spot with 27,194 reported cases last year.
In terms of accident type, fall by slipping, stumbling, etc. is the most common type of accident that resulted in fatal or nonfatal injury with 36,058 people affected. There are more than 22,000 people, on the other hand, who had “injuries caused by reactions to their actions or excessive effort,” like trying to lift objects that are too heavy for them to carry. Meanwhile, 20,758 individuals whose accidents were caused by “falling from trees, buildings, etc.”
“According to the MHLW, working people aged 60 and older accounted for 18.7% of the total working population, a rise of nine percentage points over the last 20 years. At 29.3%, an increase of more than 10 percentage points was also seen in the ratio of people in this age group who suffered fatal and nonfatal injuries resulting in four or more days of work absence, due to work-related accidents,” according to the Nippon Foundation.
“There were 4.02 annual accidents per 1,000 workers aged 60 or over, which was roughly twice as high as for men aged 30 to 34 and around four times as high for women in this age category.”
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