Data, in the Valencian Community show a reduction in the accident rate of up to 65.3% in the participating companies, confirming the positive impact of the PAP in the reduction of occupational accidents.

Preferred action plans are a public initiative, the most important implementation underway in Spain in the field of occupational health. They have their origin in the most serious accident in the shipyards of Valencia, which resulted in the death of 18 workers.

From then on, in the year 2000, the set of public administrations adopted a commitment to develop intensive policies which have been materializing in so-called preferred action (PAP) on companies of high accident rate, driven by the Ministry of labour and plans developed by the autonomous communities.

Ten years after his release in March, Cisal presents the evaluation and analysis of the impact of these plans in the participating companies, measuring outcomes, and comparing them with data from claims of companies that, during the same period of applicationthey have not been subjected to the PAP.

In this sense, the Research Center has measured the degree of effectiveness of the plans on a total of 560 analyzed companies belonging to the sectors of construction, industry and services, with a total of 34.620 workers. In addition, the companies of not implementing PAP studied, amount to 635, with an average of 28.537 workers.

According to the report, in the first year of intervention plans, companies have experienced a drastic reduction in occupational accidents a 26.7% to 42.5%, followed by declines held over the following years. A reduction to six years later rose to 53.5%-65.3%, about the year prior to the intervention rates.

This means that companies in which these plans, the reduction of accidents at work were applied was up to three times higher (from 1.3 to 3.1) that companies that did not participate in the implementation of the PAP.

By sectors, comparatively, the industry presented a better performance than the construction and services. In the first year of intervention of the PAP, the industrial sector reduced the rate of accidents at work by 34.3%, compared to the 27.8 and 28.3% of the construction and services sectors, respectively.

The sixth year of intervention, these differences between sectors is shortened, which was significantly reduced the rate of accidents at work in all of them. Thus, the industrial sector fell its claims by 58.3%; the construction, a 58.7% and services, 52.6 per cent.

With regard to the size, in small enterprises, of less than 50 workers, the impact of the intervention is higher than in the large. In the first year, registered a decline in incidents of 41.4%, compared to 19.2 per cent of large companies. In the sixth year, the effectiveness of intervention continued to be higher in SMEs than in large ones, with declines of 64.6% and 47% respectively.

Also, the study of Cisal analyzes the types of accidents. Non-mechanical, chemical, ergonomic or psychological origin of had a reduction in incidence of 63.5 per cent; the mechanics, such as cuts, hooks, atrapamientos or scuffs, a reduction of 55.2%, and the instant, a decrease of 56.7%.

The report highlights the high effectiveness of priority action plans, as in all cases, in the first year of implementation, the number of injuries drastic reductions were generated by accident at work.

Far from being a one-off or sporadic impact, reducing the accident rate is kept to the length of the next few years. It is a sustained reduction in the time. Rates of accidents in the PAP companies converge with companies for its low accident rate, have not been subjected to intervention of the plans.

It is in the construction sector, precisely at the moment of greatest activity, before the crisis, where greater effect has been the implementation of the plans. Also, accidents of mechanical origin and the instant were which were more reduced.

It's a study that sheds completely new data as having based research on follow-up during several years of the implementation of the plans, allow, for the first time, measure the sustainability of the effectiveness achieved in business and not just short-term effects.

The director Manager of Union of mutual, Juan Enrique Blasco, stated that in a context of crisis and which are going through today, is very important "the collaboration of Governments, in the implementation of the culture of prevention to raise productivity and the competitivdad of the economy is essential to promote the prevention of the" "accidents at work both in the short and long term".

Cisal

Research in occupational health centre aims to produce and disseminate scientific knowledge useful to improve occupational health, promote the health of workers and train researchers and highly qualified in the field of occupational health professionals. It consists of Corporation mutual, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Union Institute of work, environment and health (ISTS), four research areas based on working conditions, inequalities in occupational health, damage on the health and safety policies and health at work is currently open.