Latvia sees rise in serious and fatal workplace accidents

Serious and fatal workplace accidents are increasing in Latvia, LSM reported, citing preliminary data from the State Labour Inspectorate (VDI).

Eighteen people died in workplace accidents in the first nine months of this year. Twenty-one people died at work over the whole of last year. This year, 205 workplace accidents had been recorded by the end of September, 171 of them resulting in serious injuries.

The VDI said the trend was worrying. Despite public education on workplace safety, the situation is not improving, it said.

“There is a certain irresponsibility or carelessness on the part of both employers and employees. What is written in documents and what we see at the workplace do not match,” VDI representative Baiba Šilberga said. She cited cases where workplace risk assessments did not reflect conditions on site, and where employees had signed records confirming they received training and instruction, although practice differed.

The VDI said attitudes towards workplace safety had worsened in many places.