Non-work accidents exceed one million mark

More than one million non work-related accidents take place in Switzerland every year, costing the country SFr13 billion ($11.7 billion), or three per cent of GDP.

A study by the Council for Accident Prevention (CAP) shows that half of the costs incurred relate to road accidents, although these accidents only account for one in ten of the total number.

The study, carried out in collaboration with research group Ecoplan, also looked at accidents in sport, at home and during leisure activities.

The material costs of accidents include medical treatment and loss of productivity. While these costs can be added up in francs, the non-material costs, in terms of pain and suffering, are also considerable and are detailed in the study.

“From the social and economic point of view, non-professional accidents constitute a serious social problem. It is important therefore to put more emphasis on their prevention,” a statement from the CAP said.

Sport is a domain that sees many injuries, almost 320,000 per year. This includes 174 people killed while participating in a sport and 764 seriously disabled. A further 11,000 suffer serious injury.