The accidents of the migrant workers in Italy

Rosa Maria Lacquaniti, Università di Roma
Silvia D'amario, INAIL

The purpose of the present paper is to provide a general picture of the situation regarding the accidents of migrant workers in Italy and in particular the accident risks that involve them. Over the last three years the number of migrant residents has increased by 72%, a large increase that is linked above all to regularization and the entrance of some Eastern European countries to the E.U. The increase in the non European workers is reflected in the number of work accidents for which we notice a growth in 2006 to 3,7% compared to the previous year. In fact there have been more than 116 thousand reported accidents vs. the 112 thousand of 2005. This increase is the synthesis of a 4% growth in Industry and Services and a 2% reduction in Agriculture. The number of mortal accidents in 2006 reported to the National Institute for the Insurance against the Accidents at Work (INAIL) was 141 as opposed to 150 the previous year. We must remember that such data is still provisional, consolidation should reveal a substantial stability between the two years. The accidents among non Europeans occur in activities that are notoriously risky; they are usually in one of four productive areas: construction, metal industry, transport and catering which account for 39% of all and the 55% of the mortal cases. The geographical distribution of the accidents is as follows: it has been observed that 46% occur in the Northeast, 42% of cases resulting in death happen in the Northwest. In the Southern area 4,7% of accidents are reported but if we consider the mortal cases the percentage is 13,5. This indicates a tendency to report more frequently particularly serious cases. The analysis of this accident phenomenon has led to the creation of some rates of accident risk.