News|30/07/21

Maritime workers: What insurance and prevention of occupational risks in Europe?

Home > The news of EUROGIP and occupational risks in Europe > Maritime workers: What insurance and prevention of occupational risks in Europe?

Seafarers are subject to difficult working conditions with a cumulative exposure to multiple occupational risks in a working environment where the intervention of prevention officers is more complex than on land. In this context, what is the organisation of insurance and prevention of accidents at work and occupational diseases in other European countries?

EUROGIP has been asked this question and is now publishing the results of its research online, that concerned seven countries: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, Italy and Norway.

Several types of organisation can be observed:

  • The public occupational injury insurer, which covers all the country’s occupational sectors, manages both insurance and prevention in this sector with its institutional network. This is the case, for example, in Germany and Italy;
  • Sometimes prevention is not mainly the responsibility of the national insurer, as in Belgium;
  • When occupational injury insurance is entrusted to the private sector, prevention is mainly organised by competent public authorities, as in Denmark or Ireland for example. The same is true in the case of the existence of a special scheme, e.g. Spain.

The information presented in the EUROGIP note cannot be considered exhaustive. It is based solely on the data made available online by the countries mentioned and deals as far as possible with the competent bodies, where applicable, with the number of claims, as well as with examples of preventive measures and tools.

Download the note (in French)

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