An overview of occupational accidents notification systems within the enlarged EU

This paper describes a comparative analysis of the official forms used for reporting occupational accidents within theEU-27 member states. The comparison is based on two analysis grids (coding schedule) created to that effect, which incorporatea set of evaluation criteria and an interpretation key. The results obtained in the analysis allowed for attention to be drawn to therelevant attributes of such forms in terms of their content and format/structure. It also revealed themain similarities and differencesbetween each country, providing a complete assessment of the 27 member states. The discussion gives account of the level ofimplementation of the "new" Eurostat variables within the European Statistics of Accidents at Work (ESAW). Furthermore, thestudy shows that certain formats (structure of information fields) appear to facilitate completeness of the information collected. Ithas also demonstrated that the European harmonisation process is still far from completion, although the newcomer states seemto be adjusting quickly to the process. The findings of this study may bring useful insights to national authorities and Europeanpolicy-makers, or to employers/enterprises wishing to implement their internal procedures aligned with the ESAWmethodology.The scientific community is another interest group, whose research relies on official statistics, preferably comparable across allcountries.