Citation

Rantanen J. J. Occup. Accid. 1982; 4(2-4): 195-203.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1982, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Because of their considerable incidence and consequences, accidents are still one of the most important public health problems. When measured on the basis of occurrence and losses of working time, occupational accidents comprise the most important group of accidents in the country. But on the basis of fatalities, traffic accidents comprise the highest risk per time unit of exposure. At the moment, less is known about accidents occurring in the home and during leisure time. Thus, the evaluation of their consequences is difficult.The statistics of work accidents is rather reliable whereas defects in the registration practices of traffic accidents and registration of accidents occurring in the home and during leisure time are incomplete. The regular registration of all accidents, with the help of routine or repeated surveys, should be organized in order that more reliable information could be obtained about the importance of all types of accidents.

Because accidents are caused by external factors, their prevention by regulating the causative agents is possible. The great human, oublie health and economic values of the consequences of accidents make accident prevention one of the most promising priority area of preventive health policy, both for public health and for occupational health and safety. The losses of national economy caused by all accidents may amount to figures as high as 8 to 10% out of the GNP.

The present actuarial paper discusses the importance of accidents to both public health and to the national economy, using Finnish data, but the considerations presented here may also be relevant for other countries.