OREANDA-NEWS. March 13, 2014. According to data available to the Labour Inspectorate, Statistics Estonia and SEB Elu- ja pensionikindlustus, the number of occupational accidents in Estonia has been growing from year to year.

Whereas in 2009 the Labour Inspectorate registered a total of approximately 3000 occupational accidents, recent years have seen that number top 4000. Last year, SEB Elu- ja pensionikindlustus registered 33 occupational accidents, paying its clients over 12 000 euros.

“Estonia stands out for its high number of occupational accidents: In 2013, the Labour Inspectorate registered 3 956 occupational accidents, with the circumstances of another 204 incidents being looked into at the beginning of this year. The rise in the number of occupational accidents may be chalked up to the increased awareness of parties to the employment relationship and a decrease in the concealment of occupational accidents. Regardless of the increased accuracy of occupational accidents statistics in Estonia, the number of occupational accidents happening to employees is not declining, and Estonia’s workforce is severely under-insured. Often, occupational accidents result from the company or its employee breaching occupational safety requirements, with a third of the accidents related to falls at work, which may result in injury. On average, 45 days are spent away from work because of treatment for occupational accidents,” said Indrek Holst, Chairman of the Management Board of SEB Elu- ja Pensionikindlustus.

People’s awareness of the need to insure their lives and health has improved from year to year; however, in many cases lives of people who work are uninsured, first and foremost due to their carelessness or irresponsible attitude or for the reason that they consider insurance too expensive.

“These days, companies are taking more of an interest in insuring their employees than they would have two to three years ago. SEB’s insurance portfolio includes companies whose principle of insuring their employees is a part of their corporate policy. For companies that operate in high-risk areas of activity, concluding life insurance contracts for their employees means mitigating the risks for the company. There are also companies that see the concluding of life insurance contracts for their employees as responsible behaviour, or they include life insurance in their corporate motivation packages,” Holst said.

Holst believes that the government and the private sector could go a long way by working together to mitigate social risks for citizens. “People’s financial obligations are far surpassing their savings, which means that, in the case of accidents, families quite often end up in a very difficult economic situation. To help people get by in difficult times, recover from their ordeals and return to their working lives as quickly as possible, covering risks should be promoted. Amongst other things, tax policy should promote insuring against risks, which would help people to better cope with challenges resulting from accidents. For instance, by providing tax incentives for contracts that both individuals as well as employers concerning their lives and health. Since the risk premiums for coverage are small, such incentives would not constitute a huge load for the receipt of national tax revenue. People, in turn, would get better social insurance in terms of their financial obligations. The incentives provided for employers would be of much greater significance, since they send a clear signal to society that the state promotes the contributions of employers towards the security of their employees,” Holst added.