With 10 thousand occurrences per year, MS also faces underreporting of work accidents

Accidents at work occur more frequently than you might think. In 2022 alone, in Mato Grosso do Sul, more than ten thousand cases were registered. The number points out that this is an important and serious public health problem, as temporary, permanent injuries and even deaths can result, with the victims being economically active people and, often, financial supporters of their homes.

Data from the Occupational Safety and Health Observatory, which only considers records involving people with a formal contract, shows that since 2007 this average of 10 thousand/year has been verified in the State. The body responsible for conducting investigations into reports of workplace accidents is the Public Ministry of Labor.

This Sunday (28), when World Workplace Safety Day is celebrated, the Midiamax Newspaper spoke with the chief prosecutor of the Public Ministry of Labor of Mato Grosso do Sul (MPT-MS), Cândice Gabriela Arosio, who revealed statistics about the agency’s performance and detailed its social function.

“The role of the Public Ministry is to defend the rights of society with regard to the working environment. So, our institutional goal, based on knowledge of these facts, is to seek regularization of companies’ conduct, so that workers who are still in that location and also those who will be employed in the future can have a healthy and healthy working environment guaranteed. ”, explained the prosecutor.

She revealed that all complaints that reach the Ministry are investigated. Even one that affects just one person can reveal a problem of a collective nature.

“Whenever these complaints arrive, news of work accidents, lack of provision of personal protective equipment, problems with machines, with machine protection, all of this ends up generating investigations that the MPT conducts to verify this work environment that Ultimately, it affects everyone who works there,” he highlighted.

According to her, complaints arrive from various sources, even before companies issue the CAT (Work Accident Report), which is the document to recognize a work accident or occupational illness. It is issued by the company within 1 business day, or, if death has occurred, immediately.

“We receive complaints from the victims themselves, from relatives and also from the press, which is a major whistleblower, in addition to the cooperation we have with the Fire Department, which respond to most accidents and also inform us through incident reports generated”, he said.

Civil investigations or inquiries may lead to sanctions for companies or the signing of conduct adjustment terms. “Within the scope of the MPT, we first seek for the company to regularize its conduct and resolve the problem. If the investigation points to the company’s responsibility, there is the possibility of signing a conduct adjustment agreement, which establishes obligations to do or not do so that the situation can be regularized”, he explains.

There is also the possibility of negotiating collective moral damages, a form of compensation paid by the legal entity that was responsible for the problem, as a way of compensating the community.

In a recent case, a slaughterhouse in Bataguassu was blamed for an ammonia leak that resulted in the deaths of four workers. “The company was ordered to have to regularize all its conduct and was also ordered to pay collective moral damages, and the amount was donated to benefit society, with part of it being used to purchase a bus for a charity,” he said.

Thus, compensation is set according to the damage and also the capacity of the company involved. “In an emblematic case, Brumadinho, the rupture that occurred generated collective moral damage of 400 million reais, because it was a major disaster, with many deaths and irreparable environmental damage”, explained the prosecutor.

In the period between 2023 and 2024, according to the MPT-MS, 193 procedures related to the work environment in Mato Grosso do Sul were computed, which include investigations and developments, such as judicial monitoring procedures, civil investigation, public civil action.

Of these, 93 are specifically considered work accidents, that is, those that occurred in the place and time of work, causing bodily injury, functional disturbance or illness, and resulting in a reduction in working or earning capacity, or death.

Data from Mato Grosso do Sul

The latest annual update from the Occupational Safety and Health Observatory refers to the year 2022. It records that 612,900 reports of work accidents were recorded this year. In MS, of the 10 thousand notifications of work accidents registered in the year, a total of 3 thousand resulted in the granting of social security benefits (sickness benefits due to work accidents).

In relation to the number of deaths registered, there were 2,500 throughout the country, 58 of which in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The numbers are surprising and, even so, the study predicts an underreporting of 21.8% of cases.

The municipalities with the highest number of announcements issued were: Campo Grande (41.3% of cases), Dourados (10.3%), Três Lagoas (7.04%), Ponta Porã (3.96%), Corumbá (2 .1%), Bataguassu (2.05%), São Gabriel do Oeste (2.05%), Sidrolândia (1.58%), Nova Andradina (1.56%) and Aparecida do Taboado (1.5%) . In a recent case, a mechanic died after being hit by a piece of machinery in the works at the Suzano factory in Ribas do Rio Pardo, 95 km from Campo Grande.