[TRENDS IN OCCUPATIONAL INJURY AND DISEASE IN ARGENTINA, 1997-2015]

To describe temporal trends in occupational injuries (OI) and occupational diseases (OD) in Argentina, by severity of the injury, place of occurrence, economic activity and selected provinces, in the period 1997 to 2015.

The study population consists of the working population covered by the Argentine Law of Occupational Risks system, roughly 4 million people in 1997 and 9.5 million in 2015. The annual incidence rate of the OI and OD was calculated by using the number of reported cases divided by the mean number of employees covered by the system each year. To measure change in incidence over time, we calculated the overall percentage change (OPC), by dividing the difference between the incidence rate of the first minus the last year by the incidence rate of the last year.

The overall incidence of OI and OD showed a greater decline for fatal (OPC=-65%) versus nonfatal injuries (OPC-23,3%). By place of occurrence, we observed a decrease in the incidence of nonfatal occupational injuries at the workplace (OPC =-47,7%), but an increase in occupational commuting OI (OPC =+123,4%). For OD, there was an increase in the incidence of nonfatal OD (OPC =393%), although the tendency showed both increases and declines among fatal occupational diseases. This pattern was consistent among different economic activities as well as in selected provinces.

Observed trends are in line with other high-income countries, with decreasing nonfatal workplace OI, and increasing commuting OI and nonfatal OD. Further in-depth research is warranted on temporal trends in non-fatal OD.