Suva survey: fine weather caused accident figures to rise in 2017
A survey by Suva shows: in 2017, significantly more Suva policyholders had accidents while hiking, walking or riding their motorcycles or bicycles. The reason for this was the exceptionally warm weather. A total of 465,000 accidents and occupational illnesses occurred last year.
In 2017, insured persons reported over 465,000 accidents to Suva. This is 1 percent more than in the previous year. The number of occupational accidents remained stable compared to the previous year, although the number of employees in Switzerland increased by just under 1 percent according to the Federal Statistical Office. The number of non-occupational accidents, on the other hand, rose by 1.9 percent. This was still slightly down in the previous year.
Accidents registered with Suva
| 2017 | 2016 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total accidents and occupational diseases | 465 701 | 461 010 | + 1,0 % |
| - of which occupational accidents and diseases | 177 973 | 178 282 | – 0,2 % |
| - of which non-occupational accidents | 268 934 | 263 987 | + 1,9 % |
| - of which accidents and occupational diseases in the voluntary employers' insurance scheme | 1139 | 1094 | + 4,1 % |
| - of which accidents and occupational diseases in accident insurance for the unemployed | 17 655 | 17 647 | 0,0 % |
Heat wave caused more accidents
Suva recorded significantly more non-occupational accidents than in the previous year among its insured, particularly in the months of January and June 2017. According to MeteoSwiss, 2017 brought Switzerland the third warmest spring and the third warmest summer since measurements began in 1864. In June in particular, there was a heat wave, which is atypical for this month. Another heat spurt was recorded in October. "Accordingly, people were active outdoors for longer, which led to more accidents," says Peter Andermatt, Suva's statistician.
In terms of leisure activities, the main contributory factors were accidents while hiking and walking (+ 16.5 percent), as well as motorcycling (+ 4.8 percent) and cycling (+ 3.6 percent). In the exceptionally warm months of June and October, insured persons reported significantly more accidents than in the previous year for all three leisure activities. Hiking and walking accidents even rose by half in January and June compared to the previous year. In total, Suva recorded over 21,500 accidents during hiking and walking.
Young people have fewer accidents in their leisure time
The largest increase in all recreational accidents was among 55- to 64-year-olds, at 8 percent. "Apparently, people in this age group are drawn to the outdoors more often than younger people when the weather is nice," says statistician Andermatt. Because the sharp increase in accidents in this age group cannot only be explained by the fact that there are increasingly more insured people in this age group due to the baby boomers. The 35 to 44 year olds recorded an increase of 3.6 percent in leisure accidents. For those up to 24 years of age, leisure accidents have even decreased by 2.7 percent.
Suva insures around two thirds of all employees in Switzerland against the consequences of occupational and non-occupational accidents and occupational diseases.
