Hidden accident rates and patterns in the Swedish mining industry due to involvement of contractor workers

Subcontracting or contracting out work is a practice that has been utilized in the Swedish mining industry. According to official statistics on occupational injuries, mining accident rates have declined in recent years. However, mining accidents involving contractor workers are not recorded in the statistics for the mining industry, but rather in the statistics for those branches of industry within which their own employer (or ''mother company'') are classified, Using data from the Swedish National Information System on Occupational Injuries, this cross-sectional study covers a five-year period in which 2397 accidents have been examined. The objective was to investigate the occurrence and pattern of occupational accidents among contractor workers, using mining company employees as a comparison group. The obtained results suggest that the official statistics do not reflect the real risk situation in the branch due to an involvement of contractor workers, Although there is a lack of valid exposure data concerning contractors, the results indicate that this category of worker seems to incur more frequent and more severe injuries. These workers also seem to perform different tasks and work under other conditions than mining company employees at the time of injury.