Egypt

Organization responsible for the statistics

Collection: Manpower Directorates.

Compilation and publication: General Department of Information and Statistics, of the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration.

Periodicity

Every six months and year.

Source

Records of reports of occupational injuries submitted to the Manpower Directorates.

Objectives and users

Major users:

General Department of Industrial Safety and Health of the Central Department for Manpower Welfare; National Centre for Occupational Safety Research; Egyptian Confederation of Trade Unions; Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA); Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS); researchers in the field of occupational safety and health: Ministry of Health.

Coverage

Persons:

All employees in establishments with fifteen or more persons employed. However, the statistics are processed systematically only for establishments with 50 or more persons employed. Serious accidents occurring in smaller establishments are processed separately. The data supplied to the ILO relate only to establishments with 50 or more persons employed.

About 1,700,000 workers are covered.

Economic activities:

All economic activities and sectors.

Geographic areas:

Whole country.

Persons working outside the country are not covered.

Persons normally resident outside the country who are injured in occupational accidents in Egypt are not covered.

Establishments:

Establishments with 15 or more persons employed.

The statistics are only processed for establishments with 50 or more persons employed, so as to enhance their accuracy; information is also compiled separately for serious accidents in establishments with 15 to 50 persons employed.

Types of occupational accidents covered

The statistics cover notified injuries resulting from all types of occupational accidents, including commuting accidents.

Statistics on occupational diseases are compiled and published separately.

Concepts and definitions

(Source: Ministerial decree No. 75, 1993 and Schedule of Occupational Diseases attached to the Unified Social Insurance Law No. 79, 1975)

Occupational accident:

a sudden and unintentional occurrence normally causing bodily harm or injury; it occurs during working hours on the direct way to or from work; it includes injuries incurred during or because of work, explosions, demolition or fire, causing a cut, wound or damage to health of any part of the body, and absence from work for one day or more.

Occupational injuries:

injuries incurred during or because of work and also diseases included in the schedule attached to the Unified Social Insurance Law No. 79, 1976 and amendments thereto; they must be caused by the conditions under which the work is carried out.

Commuting accident:

an accident occurring between the home and the workplace, on the direct route.

Worktime lost because of occupational injuries:

leave for one day or more which the worker takes as a result of his illness or injury.

Fatal occupational injury:

an injury leading to the death of the worker.

Temporary incapacity to work:

the injured person recovers from the injury following a period of absence from work.

Permanent incapacity to work:

the injured person recovers, but there is a permanent disability.

Minimum period of absence from work: one day.

Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury: six months.

Types of information compiled

(a) personal characteristics of persons injured: sex;

(b) amount of worktime lost: aggregate worktime lost by persons injured, in days;

(c) characteristics of accidents: none;

(d) characteristics of injuries: extent of disability; nature of injury;

(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces: economic activity; governorate.

Measurement of worktime lost

Worktime lost is measured in calendar days, for all occupational injuries, as follows:
  1. temporary incapacity to work: the number of days of absence from work;
  2. permanent incapacity to work: 6,000 days for 100 per cent disability, and a proportional rate for lesser disability;
  3. fatal injury: 6,000 days.
Temporary absences for medical treatment of less than one day are not included.

Classifications

(a) fatal or non-fatal accidents;

(b) extent of disability:

less than 35 per cent, 35 to 99 per cent, 100 per cent;

(c) economic activity:

from 1997 according to the tabulation categories of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Revision 3 (ISIC Rev.3); before 1997, according to the major groups of ISIC Rev.2;

(d) occupation:

none;

(e) type of injury:

none;

(f) cause of accident:

none;

(g) duration of absence from work:

none;

(h) characteristics of workers:

sex;

(i) characteristics of accidents:

none;

(j) characteristics of employers or workplaces:

location (governorate).

Crossclassifications:

  1. economic activity and extent of disability;
  2. governorate and extent of disability.

Reference period

Six months and a year.

An injury is included in the statistics for the period (six months or year) in which the accident occurred.

Worktime lost is included in the statistics for each of the periods in which worktime was lost because of the occupational injury.

Estimates

Totals number of persons injured and worktime lost.

Rates of fatal injuries: (number of persons fatally injured / number of persons employed) x 1,000

Frequency rates: injury rates per million hours worked: (number of persons injured during the year / (average number of persons employed during the year x 2,400)) x 1,000,000

(hours worked per person per year are estimated as 300 days x 8 hours per day)

Severity rates: number of days lost per thousand hours worked: (total number of days lost during the year / (average number of persons employed x 2,400)) x 1,000

Historical background of the series

The statistics were first compiled in 1960. Their original objective was to provide data for the study of occupational injuries and diseases, so as to plan for inspection.

Changes were introduced following Decree No. 36 in 1982 and Decree No. 75 in 1993. The following items were added under Decree No. 75:

Documentation

Series available:

The following tables are published:

Bibliographic references:

The data are published in:

Ministry of Manpower and Immigration, General Department for Information and Statistics: Industrial Safety Statistics (six-monthly).

Methodological notes about the statistics appear in this publication.

Not all the data are published, as they are processed manually. With the planned electronic data processing, more detailed data will be available.

Data published by ILO:

The following data are furnished regularly to the ILO for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to reported injuries (including commuting accidents) according to major division of economic activity: number of persons fatally injured, number of persons injured with lost workdays, total of these two groups; number of workdays lost by persons injured with lost workdays; rates of fatal injuries. The number of persons at risk (total number of persons employed) is also supplied and stored in the LABORSTA database.

Confidentiality:

Data relating to individual establishments are not published because of the law on statistics.

International standards

The representative organizations of employers and workers were consulted when the methods used for compiling the statistics were revised.

Method of data collection

Type of survey:

Establishment survey.

Data collected:

  1. information about the person injured: insurance number; name; sex; age; occupation; length of experience;
  2. information about the employer and establishment: insurance number; name; address and contact information; sector (governmental, public, private); economic activity; times of shifts;
  3. information about the accident: date and time; place; kind (normal, serious, commuting);
  4. information about the injury: mode of injury; cause of injury; part of body injured; days lost; result of treatment (under observation, recovered, disabled, deceased).

Universe of the survey:

The list of establishments with 15 or more persons employed, updated by inspectors every six months.

Sampling:

The survey is based on a complete enumeration.

Field work:

Establishments are required to complete the questionnaire and send it to the labour inspectorate no later than 15 days after the six-month period to which they refer.

Data processing:

Inspectors of occupational safety and health at the Manpower Directorates verify the survey responses, and send them to the General Department of Information and Statistics where more arithmetic and logical edition and verification are carried out. The data are processed by hand, and survey responses are coded directly onto the survey questionnaire. In the case of missing or inconsistent data, inspectors contact the establishment by telephone or mail, or make a personal visit.

Estimates:

Totals.

Reliability of the estimates:

Not available.

Changes planned:

None, except the introduction of processing by computer.

Additional information

Under the Labour Law No. 137 of 1981, serious occupational injuries must be notified within 24 hours of the occurrence of the accident. Employers are required to notify the labour inspection of all serious occupational injuries, using a standard form. There is a guidance publication for notification.