Indicator 8.8.1 Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers, by sex and migrant status

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment  

Indicator 8.8.1: Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100’000 workers, by sex and migrant status

November, 2021

1.3.1

Uganda Bureau of Statistics

Sharon Apio

Labour Statistics Unit

Senior Statistician

+256 782 770851

P.O. Box 7186, Kampala

sharon.apio@ubos.org

This indicator provides information on the number of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers in the reference group during the reference period. It is a measure of the personal likelihood or risk of having a fatal or a non-fatal occupational injury for each worker in the reference group. 

The number of occupational injuries expressed per a given number of workers in the reference group is also known as the incidence rate of occupational injuries. 

Definitions of the main concepts presented below are derived from the Resolution concerning statistics of occupational injuries (resulting from occupational accidents), adopted by the 16th ICLS in 1998. 

Occupational accident: an unexpected and unplanned occurrence, including acts of violence, arising out of or in connection with work which results in one or more workers incurring a personal injury, disease or death. Occupational accidents are to be considered travel, transport or road traffic accidents in which workers are injured and which arise out of or in the course of work; that is, while engaged in an economic activity, or at work, or carrying out the business of the employer.

Occupational injury: any personal injury, disease or death resulting from an occupational accident. An occupational injury is different from an occupational disease, which comes as a result of an exposure over a period of time to risk factors linked to the work activity. Diseases are included only in cases where the disease arose as a direct result of an accident. An occupational injury can be fatal or non-fatal (and non-fatal injuries could entail the loss of work days).

Fatal occupational injury: an occupational injury leading to death within one year of the day of the occupational accident. 

Case of occupational injury: the case of one worker incurring one or more occupational injuries as a result of one occupational accident.  

Workers in the reference group: workers in the reference group refer to the average number of workers in the particular group under consideration and who are covered by the source of the statistics on occupational injuries (for example, those of a specific sex or in a specific economic activity, occupation, region, age group, or any combination of these, or those covered by a particular insurance scheme, accident notification systems, or household or establishment survey).

The statistics on this indicator for Uganda is based on death registered as a result of occupational injuries sustained by the deceased collected during National Labour Force Survey.

The cases of occupational disease and cases of injury due to commuting accidents are excluded from the statistics, as recommended.

Ratio of cases per 100’000 workers

ILO Manual – Decent Work Indicators, Concepts and Definitions – Chapter 8, Safe work environment 

National Labour Force Surveys (NLFS)

A centralized approach to data collection is employed whereby mobile field teams are deployed from UBOS headquarters to the sampled EAs / establishments and data is collected using Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI).

NLFS - Annual

2023

Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UBOS

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics Act 1998 provides for the development and maintenance of the National Statistical System (NSS) to ensure collection, analysis and publication of integrated, relevant, reliable and timely statistical information.

This indicator provides valuable information that could be used to formulate policies and programmes for the prevention of occupational injuries, diseases and deaths. It could also be used to monitor the implementation of these programmes and to signal particular areas of increasing risk such as a particular occupation, industry or location. Although the principal objective of this indicator is to provide information for prevention purposes, it may be used for a number of other purposes, such as to identify the occupations and economic activities with the highest risk of occupational injuries; to detect changes in the pattern and occurrence of occupational injuries, so as to monitor improvements in safety and reveal any new areas of risk; to inform employers, employers’ organizations, workers and workers’ organizations of the risks associated with their work and workplaces, so that they can take an active part in their own safety; to evaluate the effectiveness of preventive measures; to estimate the consequences of occupational injuries, particularly in terms of days lost or costs; and to provide a basis for policymaking aimed at encouraging employers, employers’ organizations, workers and workers’ organizations to introduce accident prevention measures.

For this indicator only the non-fatal occupational injuries were taken care off during the data collection from households. The fatal occupational injuries were not taken care of in the computation of this indicator for the case of Uganda’s figure. Data from establishments was not considered.

The incidence rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries will be calculated separately, since statistics on fatal injuries tend to come from a different source than those on non-fatal injuries, which would make their sum into total occupational accidents inaccurate.

The fatal occupational injury incidence rate is expressed per 100,000 workers in the reference group, and thus, is calculated as follows:

Similarly, the non-fatal occupational injury incidence rate is calculated as follows:

In calculating the average number of workers, the number of part-time workers should be converted to full-time equivalents. For the calculation of rates, the numerator and the denominator should have the same coverage. For example, if self-employed persons are not covered by the source of statistics on fatal occupational injuries, they should also be taken out of the denominator.

Trend and independent analysis

Hold data validation stakeholder meetings

This indicator could come from a variety of sources at the national level, including various kinds of administrative records (insurance records, labour inspection records, etc.), household surveys and establishment surveys. 

• ILO Guidebook - Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators 
• ILO Manual – Decent Work Indicators, Concepts and Definitions – Chapter 8, Safe work environment 
• Resolution concerning statistics of occupational injuries (resulting from occupational accidents) 
• Occupational injuries statistics from household surveys and establishment surveys 

Uganda Bureau of Statistics management reviews and signs off the survey strategy and report before dissemination.

• Stakeholder consultations conducted to review strategy including tools
• Field staff are trained on survey concepts
• Field supervision is undertaken by UBOS staff and other stakeholders
• Survey reports reviewed internally and externally prior dissemination

Before dissemination, the report is reviewed and quality assured by the Department of Outreach and Quality Assurance at the Bureau.

Data availability:

Data for this indicator is available.

Time series:

2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.

Disaggregation:

Data disaggregated sex, age and migrant status.

Data derived from administrative records are not strictly comparable since they include numerous types of records that follow different rules and are maintained by different agencies. Two main sources of data are records of notifications by employers to the competent authority and insurance records of the authority compensating the victims. These two would clearly yield different results, since it is possible that not all injuries that were compensated to workers were reported by the employer and vice versa. It is also possible that these records have a different geographical coverage or that they cover different economic activities.

Data derived from administrative records are not strictly comparable since they include numerous types of records that follow different rules and are maintained by different agencies. Two main sources of data are records of notifications by employers to the competent authority and insurance records of the authority compensating the victims. These two would clearly yield different results, since it is possible that not all injuries that were compensated to workers were reported by the employer and vice versa. It is also possible that these records have a different geographical coverage or that they cover different economic activities.

When statistics come from a household survey, their reliability depends heavily on the accuracy of the respondents, who may be subjective in the information given.

National Labour Force Survey 2016/17 and Annual Labour Force Survey reports (2017/18 – 2018/19).

• ILO Guidebook - Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators 
• ILOSTAT Metadata – Indicator Descriptions
• Decent Work Indicators Manual   
• Resolution concerning statistics of occupational injuries (resulting from occupational accidents) adopted by the 16th ICLS in 1998