"In Europe, professional diseases and industrial accidents are a great burden" for workers, companies and social security systems: Vladimír pidla, commissioner in charge of employment and social affairs, introduces with a few comments the new "five-year strategy for industrial health and safety", which has been adopted today by the Commission, "the purpose of which is to reduce by one quarter the number of professional diseases and industrial accidents across the EU". pidla mentioned that fatal accidents and accidents resulting in long-term leaves have decreased in the last few years; yet they are still numerous (4 million a year) and concentrate in some productive sectors, such as the building industry, agriculture, transport. "The losses resulting from work leaves cost to European workers about one billion euros a year. While the employers bear the costs" of replacing absent employees and the loss of productivity. The strategy for 2007-2012 includes measures in several areas: the "improvement of the current legislation and the strengthening of the practical enforcement of such legislation"; the accomplishment of national strategies "adapted to the situation of each state"; the location of "potential new risks through research".
