Occupational health and safety indicators of Turkey and their relationships with social and economic development factors between 1998 and 2014

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe aim of this descriptive study is to analyse occupational health and safety status of Turkey between 1998 and 2014 and examine its relationships with some socioeconomic factors. Data reported by Social Security Institution of Turkey and two types of incidence rates of occupational accidents determined by the institution were used in analysis; the first uses working hours, while the latter uses the number of employees as basis. A third type of incidence rate involving occupational deaths per 100,000 employees was used in comparing Turkey and EU, and it was found significantly higher from developed countries like EU-15 (t = −10.032, P < 0.001). Incidence of occupational accidents and indicators, such as human development index (HDI), GDP, literacy rate, and budget spending for education in Turkey between 1998 and 2014, were correlated with each other, and a significant negative relationship was found between fatal occupational accidents and literacy rate (r = −0.577, P < 0.05). Furthermore, a negative significant relationship between growth rate (GDP) and HDI (r = −0.813, P < 0.01) was observed. A positive relationship between GDP and incidence of fatal accidents was found, but it was insignificant (r = 0.502, P > 0.05). Economically growing populations can protect their workers against occupational hazards by taking effective and preventive measures for occupational health and safety.