Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Accidents in OECD Countries

Occupational accidents constitute a significant health, economic burden around the world and a range of factors determine the frequency of accidents. This study aims to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic factors and occupational accident rates. The study was based on annual panel-structured data obtained from 22 OECD countries covering the 2014-2023 period. Fatal and non-fatal occupational accident rates were used as dependent variables. The explanatory variables included GDP per capita, unemployment rate, average annual working hours, and public social protection (SOCX). Pearson correlation analysis, multicollinearity diagnostics, and regression analyses with country-level dummy variables were performed to evaluate the associations between socioeconomic indicators and occupational accident rates. The findings demonstrated that unemployment rate was positively and significantly associated with non-fatal occupational accident rates in the country-controlled regression model (B = 31.04, p = .041). For fatal occupational accidents, GDP per capita demonstrated a significant negative association (B = -2.93e−5, p = .003), whereas average annual working hours showed a significant positive association (B = 0.00359, p = .008). Significant cross-country differences in occupational accident rates were also identified within the OECD sample. The findings indicate that fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents are associated with different socioeconomic dynamics across OECD countries. While labor market instability was more strongly associated with non-fatal occupational accidents, prolonged working exposure was associated with fatal occupational accident risks. The results also suggest that country-specific structural characteristics play an important role in occupational accident outcomes, highlighting the importance of integrated occupational safety, labor market, and social protection policies.