Results of Industrial Accident Trend Survey for 1998 - Announced by the Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour has compiled the results of an industrial accident trend survey for 1998 in order to clarify the incidence of industrial accidents in major industries. This survey targeted about 16,000 workplaces selected by designated criteria from among the following: (1) private, governmental and public workplaces (excluding those with management and clerical departments only) that employ 100 or more regular workers in eight major industries of the Japan Standard Industrial Classifications (forestry, mining, construction [specialty and facility construction], manufacturing, utilities [electricity/gas/heat supply/water], transportation and communications, wholesaling/retailing, and the service industry, which includes such operations as laundries, hotels, golf courses, car maintenance, machinery repair, building maintenance and waste disposal: and (2) general construction work sites for which the approximate worker's accident compensation insurance premium was 1 million or more, or for which the contract amount was 120 million or more. The findings are outlined below. 1. Frequency rate (1) The 1998 industrial accident frequency rate for the industries surveyed (excluding the general contracting sector) was 1.72, a 0.03 point decline under the figure for the previous year. (2) By industry, forestry recorded the highest frequency ratio at 5.47, followed by the service industry at 4.36 and transportation and communications at 4.06. (3) In comparison with the figures of the previous year, four industries registered decreases: forestry showed a 2.14 point decline, mining recorded a 0.61 point drop, and wholesaling/retailing registered a 0.12 point decrease. On the other hand, transportation/communications recorded a 0.30 point increase, and the service industry showed a 0.19 point rise. 2. Severity rate (1) The severity ratio for industries surveyed (excluding general construction) was 0.14, a 0.02 point decline under the figure for the previous year. (2) By industry, mining recorded the highest severity ratio at 0.75, followed by transportation and communications at 0.42 and construction (specialty and facility construction) at 0.17. (3) In comparison with the figures for the previous year, three industries registered decreases: wholesaling and retailing showed a 0.12 point drop, forestry a 0.06 point decrease. On the other hand, mining recorded a 0.13 point increase and transportation/communications showed a 0.10 point rise. 3. Average lost work days (which indicate the accident severity per one person killed or injured by industrial accidents) (1) Average lost work days (excluding the general construction) were 84.3 days, a decline of 5.4 days under the previous year. (2) By industry, mining recorded the highest figure at 661.2 days, followed by construction (specialty and facility construction) at 199.3 days, and electricity/gas/heat supply and water at 120.1 days. (3) In comparison with the figures for the previous year, five industries registered increases: mining at 306.7 days and construction (specialty and facility construction) at 49.3 days. 4. The frequency and severity ratios for general construction were 1.32 and 0.39, respectively. The frequency and severity ratios for general construction registered a 0.21 and 0.02 point increase to 1.32 and 0.39, respectively.   Terminology Table --- Click here

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