Safety at Work in Romania

Safety at work in Romania is a subject that comes up each time when World Day for Safety and Health at Work is approaching, in April, along with the International Labor Day, in May. For Romanians, these days always show the country is at the bottom of the European rankings in terms of safety at work. Why?

Safety at work in Romania: European statistics

The European statistics show that Romania ranks at the bottom of the European rankings when it comes to safety at work. Precisely, in 2018, the latest statistics published at the European level, Romania ranks second after Luxembourg by the standardized incidence rate of fatal accidents at work. Romania has 5.27 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers, while Luxembourg has 6.42 fatal accidents per 100,000 workers.

As compared to the European average, Romania is way behind. The standardized incidence rate has fallen over the past years in the EU: from 2.87 fatal accidents per 100 000 workers in 2010 to 2.21 in 2018.

Are Romanians safe at work?

With a double standardized incidence rate than the European average, it seems that Romanians are among the less safe at work people in the European Union.

We have to say that Romania was also in second place in the EU in terms of fatalities at work per 100,000 workers in 2017 as well. According to Eurostat data published last year, in 2017 Romania was second only to Bulgaria, with a rate of 5.72 accidents per 100,000, but the Bulgarians have consistently improved their rate in 2018.

A certain improvement is noticed, year per year, and it is possible that Romanians are safer at work in 2021 than they were in 2018, but we’ll see that only after a while when the new statistics are published.

On the other hand, we should also compare different countries as related to their particularities. Romania is a country where the construction sector is developing at full speed. The construction industry is one of the most mentioned when it comes to accidents at work, but other industries bring their unwanted contribution to the fatalities rankings as well. Moreover, let’s not forget that, according to Bucharest Mayor, 20,000 buildings were illegally erected in Bucharest in the last few years.

Undoubtedly, Romanian authorities are trying to lower this fatality rate at work, but so far with limited success. This rate will definitely improve when Romanian workers will start observing themselves the rules of safety at work, which are compulsory for all working categories. Without this discipline which has to happen from within each individual, the authorities alone won’t have any chance as compared to other European countries.